E-mail Coach Petrie
George Petrie begins his 20th season as Gettysburg's head men's basketball coach in 2008-09.
Named to the post in 1989 by interim President Charles Anderson, Petrie is the second-winningest coach in program history with a career record of 265-220. He has guided the Bullets to a pair of Centennial Conference (CC) championships and all four of the program's NCAA tournament appearances.
In 2007-08, Petrie guided Gettysburg to its winningest season in program history. With a final record of 24-5, the Bullets topped the program record for single-season victories by four. Gettysburg also recorded its first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history, beating Salem State College and Elms College at home to reach to the Sweet 16 round. In addition, the team did not lose from Jan. 5 through March 1, setting a team record for consecutive wins in a season with 11.
Since 1993-94, Gettysburg has posted only one losing season, while accumulating an overall record of 227-160 (.587) over that stretch. Furthermore, the Bullets have earned a spot in the Centennial Tournament in eight consecutive seasons and have not posted a losing record in the league standings in a decade.
In 2000-01 and 2001-02, Gettysburg became the first school to claim back-to-back Centennial Conference titles. Petrie guided the Bullets to a 17-10 record in 2000-01 to earn the program’s first conference title of any kind in 62 years. For an encore, Gettysburg reeled off a program-record 20 wins in 2001-02 to claim another league crown and its second-straight and third overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Bullets hosted the program’s first-ever NCAA game against Lycoming College on Feb. 28, 2002.
The 1995-96 team finished with an 18-9 slate to become the first Gettysburg men’s basketball team to compete in the NCAA tournament. In 1998-99, the Bullets were runners-up in the ECAC postseason tournament.
Petrie-led teams have traveled to Europe four times and have also made trips to California during the 1998-99, 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons.
During his tenure, the Bullets have twice received the prestigious National Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award given by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association.
Petrie began his coaching career at Haverford High School in 1972 as an assistant basketball coach. After one year, he went to the University of Utah, where he earned a master's degree and was a graduate assistant under Bill Foster and J.T. Pimm. He left Utah in 1975 to join Charlie Woollum at Bucknell. While at Bucknell, he played a major role in the establishment of a winning tradition. Woollum has credited Petrie with being highly instrumental in the success the Bison enjoyed.
Bucknell won four East Coast Conference regular season championships during Petrie's time as an assistant coach, posting a then-program-best 24-5 mark in 1983-84. No Bucknell team posted a better record until 2005-06. The Bison also won two ECC tournament championships, advancing to the NCAA tournament against Georgetown in 1986-87 and Syracuse in 1988-89.
A native of Springfield, Pa., Petrie is a 1972 graduate of Lebanon Valley College. As an undergraduate, he twice captained the Flying Dutchmen basketball team, leading Lebanon Valley to the Middle Atlantic Conference championship during his junior year. Following graduation, he had a free-agent try-out with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. His brother, Geoff, was NBA Rookie of the Year with the Portland Trail Blazers and is currently the President of Basketball Operations for the Sacramento Kings.
Petrie, who is also the Bullet men’s golf coach, was recently inducted into both the Springfield High School Hall of Fame as a three-sport letterwinner and the Lebanon Valley College Hall of Fame.
