HEAD COACH CHRIS CARIDEO

Chris Carideo enters his 19th season as the head men’s basketball coach and as an Assistant Athletic Director at Widener in 2024-25. He ranks second in program history in wins and is just the program’s third coach in the last 60 years. Carideo has helped the Pride remain among the nation’s elite with bigger and better things to come.

In 2023-24, the Pride went 23-4 (12-2 MAC Commonwealth) in the regular season. They were consistently ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, going from as low as #22 to as high as #13. Although the Pride lost the MAC Commonwealth Championship game to Eastern on Feb. 24, it was only their first home loss of the season. They made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. As the host for the first two rounds, they defeated Roger Williams before falling in a close game to Christopher Newport, the defending national champions. Overall, the Pride ended the season 24-5. After the season, D3hoops.com named Carideo Coach of the Year in Region 5. Four student-athletes made the All-MAC Commonwealth Teams: forward Dominic Dunn made the first team and was the Player of the Year, forward Kevin Schenk and guard Howie Rankine made the second team, and guard Anthony DiCaro was an honorable mention.

One of the top players Carideo coached in his Widener career was Dominic Dunn. Even though Dunn only played at Widener for two seasons after transferring from Susquehanna, he is one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history and Widener Athletics history. In two seasons, he earned two D3hoops.com All-Region 5 Teams (one first, one second), two All-MAC Commonwealth First Teams, a MAC Commonwealth Championship MVP, a conference Player of the Year, the 2023-24 Al Carino Boys Basketball Club of South Jersey Small College Player of the Year, three NABC awards (All-District 5 First Team, Player of the Year, and All-America First Team), and D3hoops.com All-America Fifth Team. The majority of those awards, including the All-District and All-America honors, were just for 2023-24.

The 2022-23 season saw the Pride go 19-9 (11-5 MAC). Going into the MAC playoffs as the second seed, Widener defeated Hood and Alvernia to win the conference. The Pride would earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament and travel to Keene, N.H. to face the Tufts Jumbos. However, the Pride would fall 78-66.

The 2019-20 season continued the recent success for the Pride as Widener won the MAC Commonwealth regular season championship. Connor Laverty was named the Conference Player of the Year with Jared Peters and Elijah Boyd earning All-Conference recognition. 

In 2018-19, Carideo guided his team to the MAC Commonwealth title game after compiling a 15-12 record, going 10-6 in conference play, including a three-game sweep of Hood College that culminated with a 17-point win in the semifinals.

The team got off to a slow start in 2017-18, but rebounded in the second half of the year, eventually winning the ECAC Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.