ROLAND ROSS is the senior member of the Christopher Newport University athletic department. Ross is in his 39th season as assistant men's basketball coach and also serves as the department's Director of Community Outreach.
The Newport News native is a graduate of Warwick High School and Christopher Newport College. As a student-athlete, Ross averaged 10.2 points per game during his senior year, and was a key member of the squad that went 19-8 and won the Dixie Conference regular season title in 1979-80. As a coach, though, Ross has seen the program rise to amazing heights, and has been at the forefront of bringing some of the best talent in Division III history to the CNU campus.
He has the distinction of being the only person with ties to all four Christopher Newport men's basketball coaches in the 54-year history of the program. Ross played for program founder Bev Vaughan as well as Vaughan's successor, Glenn Russell. He began his coaching career under Russell, and remained on staff as C.J. Woollum took over the Captains in the 1984-85 season. Ross assisted Woollum for his entire 26-year run leading the program, and was a key part of 17 NCAA Tournament teams and 13 conference championships.
He has served under John Krikorian since the 2010-11 campaign, and has been on the bench as the Captains have advanced to the first two Final Fours in program history as well as seven NCAA trips in a ten-year span.
As the Director of Community Outreach, Ross has organized dozens of student-athlete initiatives that have improved and enhanced the lives of thousands in the local community. He was honored in 2016 when he became the first recipient of the C.J. Woollum Distinguished Service Award.
Ross received his bachelor's degree in sociology from Christopher Newport College in 1989. He and his wife, Bettina, have two daughters, Victoria and Bettina.
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