Ed Swanson enters his 17th season at the helm of the Sacred Heart University women's basketball program having built the Pioneers into one of the top teams in the Northeast Conference. Swanson took over the reigns of a struggling Division II program in 1990 and has transformed the Pioneers into one of the winningest programs in the region.

Swanson's Pioneers are coming off their third 20 win season in the last four years and their second-straight Northeast Conference Regular Season title. Last season's 22-10 finish capped the program's most successful four-year run with 87 wins and gave Sacred Heart it's seventh-straight winning season. The Pioneers ran their streak of seasons with at least a .500 record or better to 12-straight after last season's 22-10 run.

The 2005-06 season saw SHU make their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the NEC Championship in just their seventh season in Division I. Swanson led the Pioneers to a school record 26-5 record along with a record mark of 16 NEC wins last season while he himself earned his 250th career victory.

This season will mark the Pioneer's ninth season of play in the NEC and Coach Swanson has established a high standard of success. In their eight years, he has guided the Pioneers to a 145-76 record and eight-straight NEC Tournaments while never finishing lower than third in the final league standings.

This most recent run of success can be traced back to the 2003-04 season when Swanson claimed his 200th career victory leading SHU to their first 20-win season in Division I. The Pioneers finished with a then program record 21 wins and Swanson was recognized by his coaching peers with his first NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award.

Much of the Pioneer success on the court can be attributed to the quality of the student-athletes recruited to Sacred Heart. From 2003 to 2004, SHU had back to back NEC Rookie of the Year Award winners in Amanda Pape and Nicolle Rubino as well as numerous all-conference and league player of the week awards. In 2005-06, Pape earned the program's first-ever NEC Player of the Year Award and ended her career as the program's all-time leading scorer.

His teams have also excelled off the court, ranking among the nations best in the classroom. The 2002-03 squad was ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 2003 Academic Top-25 Honor Roll for the third-straight season. The Pioneers ranked 19th with a team grade point average of 3.275. In 2003-04, two members of the Pioneers, Brooke Kelly and Ashley Kohl, were named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-America Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Kohl earned the honor once again during her senior year. In 2006, junior Amanda Pape was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I second team by CoSIDA.

Swanson has elevated the program to its current high state through a combination of shrewd recruiting, coaching acumen, fine assistant coaches and players who understand the team concept. The evidence is there for all to see. In the past 11 seasons, the Pioneers have assembled a 220-122 (.643) record, but they have been even more formidable against conference opponents during that span, with a 156-59 (.726) mark. Under his leadership, the Pioneers have become one of the toughest teams on their home court, the William H. Pitt Center. Since the opening of the Pitt Center in 1997, his Sacred Heart teams have won 83% (110-22) of their home games including a perfect 15-0 in 2005-06 and 14-0 in 2003-04. Between 2002 and 2004, the Pioneers put together a string of 19-straight regular season wins at home in the Pitt Center. Their .833 winning percentage at home ranks the Pitt Center nationally as one the toughest arena for visiting teams to earn a win.

After directing the Pioneers to a 20-7 record -- the program's first 20-win season -- in 1995-96, Swanson was voted Coach of the Year in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) District I. He was runner-up for NEC Coach of the Year in 1999-2000, when Sacred Heart's inaugural Division I team produced a 14-14 record and tied for third (11-7) during the conference's regular season.

Basketball has always been an integral part of Swanson's life. From his days as a two-time captain at Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, to the transition of elevating the Pioneers to the Division I level, to directing his two-week long NIKE Girls Basketball Camp at Sacred Heart each summer, Swanson has demonstrated a passion for the game exceeded by few.

He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Sacred Heart in 1989. He joined Dave Bike's men's coaching staff that year, and, after becoming head coach of the Pioneer women's program in 1990, did double duty for three seasons before becoming the University's first full-time women's coach in 1993.

Immediately prior to Swanson's arrival, the Sacred Heart women's team had a 4-21 record. Under his guidance, the climb to Division II respectability was accomplished within three seasons, from 8-19 to 11-16 and, in 1992-93, to 16-13 -- the program's first winning record in 11 seasons.

A basketball aficionado the year round, Swanson spends a good portion of each summer coaching and lecturing at camps and attending AAU tournaments in several states, in addition to running his aforementioned NIKE Girls Basketball Camp.

Swanson, his wife Marion and two sons Connor and Matthew reside in Shelton, CT.