TCNJ

13 Prairie SUMMER 2026 CHEER ON ALL THE LIONS TEAMS. FIND 2026–27 SCHEDULES AT tcnjathletics.com MEN'S BASKETBALL EVAN ELBERG Elberg is "Jersey through and through." He grew up in North Caldwell, played hoops for Drew University, and served as assistant coach at TCNJ from 2015–19. He did leave the state, and TCNJ, for a five- year stretch as assistant coach at Gettysburg College, but then returned to Jersey City as director of basketball operations at Saint Peter's University. After a year there, he landed the job as the Lions' head coach. "When I was assistant at TCNJ, people said to me, 'You're going to plant seeds that you're never going to see grow,'" says Elberg. "So to come back and see where the program is now was a full-circle moment." And where are they now? Elberg led TCNJ to 22 wins — the most since 1997 — and the NJAC championship. The Lions made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament before closing out Elberg 's first year. What to expect in year two: "Our goal is always going to be to win an NJAC and compete for national championships. But that doesn't compare to what I want to do for the players. I want to set them up for the next 40 years of their life, so that when they leave this college, they can go crush the real world." Team mantra: Toughness wins. Team chemistry: "Our guys are incredible. They're motivated, they work hard. And we believe we win with people. At the end of the day, our basketball program is just a big family." 2ND NJAC CHAMPIONSHIP IN THREE YEARS BASEBALL CHRIS COLLAZO Collazo came to TCNJ after two seasons as a Division I assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh. The move offered him a chance to come back to his home state and build a program. "Now that Division I athletes can make money, everything is year-to-year as athletes move to different teams," Collazo says. "In DIII, that doesn't happen, and I can focus on building a sustainable program — sustainable for graduating our players, and sustainable for developing them into good human beings." He inherited a young but talented team, giving him the ability to grow his players into who he wants them to be. "A lot of our losses were pretty tight," he says. "I kept telling the team, 'next year, they're wins.'" Moving into next year, TCNJ has some new players coming in who will serve big roles. "They will push some of these guys that are here right now. I want to create a lot of competition within the team," he says. "Competition is the engine for development and performance. And if you look at the history of TCNJ baseball, it's a winner." Secret weapon: Collazo brought on his dad, who had been coaching at Division II Felician College, as his pitching coach. "I get to spend every day with my dad now." Advancing bases: "We just have to win more baseball games. The goal every year is to go deeper in the playoffs." Team mantra: Play fast and loose. "That's easy to do when we've got the lead. We need to remember not to tighten up when we're down." — Kara Pothier 8 RETURNING PITCHERS 12 RETURNING POSITION PLAYERS

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