Michael Ruane is in his third season with the Ravens for the 2025-26 season. He’s the fifth coach in FPU Men’s Basketball program history and brought with him a plethora of success before his time in Rindge.
(2024-25) In his second season, Ruane led the team to the First Round of the NE10 Championship against Southern Connecticut State before falling to the Owls 85-76. The season ended with a 3-26 record overall and a 2-17 record in the NE10.
(2023-24) In Ruane’s first season at Franklin Pierce, Ruane’s team finished out the season with a 4-25 record overall and a 2-20 record in the NE10. The Ravens found themselves a spot in the NE10 Championship, where they would face Southern New Hampshire University. Unfortunately, their time would stop there after a tough loss in the first round.
Ruane’s career as a head coach started in 2000 at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. There, Ruane would spend 22 seasons with the Purple Knights, leading the program to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, four ECC Tournament Championships, five ECC Regular Season Championships, two NCAA Regional Semi-Final appearances and one NCAA Sweet 16 Appearance. During his final season at UB in 2021-22, Ruane’s Purple Knights averaged a whopping 77.6 points per game which played a part in pushing his career wins past 400, an accomplishment only 40 other active coaches in NCAA Division II have done.
His success at the helm also led to five ECC Coach of the Year awards, an Eastern Athletic Conference Division II Coach of the Year award, the Fairfield County Sports Person of Year for Bridgeport and is a two-time recipient of the Sam Schoenfeld Award for Sportsmanship presented by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association.
After leaving the University of Bridgeport, Ruane headed South where he coached a single season at Palm Beach State. The team went 15-11 but the most notable statistic from the season was a dominant 11-3 record when the Panthers played at home.
Before his time at both Palm Beach State and Bridgeport, Ruane spent two seasons alongside Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Herb Magee at Jefferson University and worked as an assistant at NJIT and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Ruane graduated from Temple University with a Masters in Sports and Athletic Administration and received his undergraduate degree from Alvernia College in Reading Pennsylvania where he played basketball, baseball and ran cross country.
Career Record Overall: 411-274
Career Record at Franklin Pierce University: 7-51
2024-25: 3-26 Overall, 2-17 NE10 (NE10 Championship First Round)
2023-24: 4-25 Overall, 2-20 NE10 (NE10 Championship First Round)
