# Dave Paulsen

Dave Paulsen (born September 14, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at Holy Cross. Previously, he was the head men's basketball coach at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Before arriving at George Mason, he was previously the head coach at Bucknell University for seven seasons. Prior to Bucknell, he spent eight years as the head coach at his alma mater, Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and also coached at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

## Coaching career

At Williams College, Paulsen won the NCAA Division III title in 2003, and finished as national runner up in 2004. Paulsen was twice named Division III Coach of the Year during his time at Williams.
On May 20, 2008, Paulsen was hired as head coach at Bucknell. Paulsen led the Bison to a disappointing 7–23 record in his first year at Bucknell. This constituted the school's worst winning percentage (.233) since the 1971–72 season when the Bison posted a mark of 5–18 (.217). In his second year, the Bison improved to 12–17, including a 9–5 record in Patriot League play. In his third year, Paulsen was named Patriot League Coach of the Year en route to leading his team to a 25–8 record heading into the NCAA tournament, including a 13–1 record in the Patriot League, culminating in both the regular season and Patriot League tournament championships.
During his time at Bucknell, Paulsen recruited and coached future NBA player Mike Muscala.
On March 30, 2015, Paulsen was hired as head coach of George Mason. His team struggled in his first year, finishing the season with an overall record of 11–21, 5–13 in conference and in thirteenth place in the Atlantic 10. His second year at George Mason saw the team significantly improve, finishing 20–14 overall and 9–9 in A–10 play, and receiving an invitation to the 2017 CBI, where they would lose in the first round to Loyola (MD).
Paulsen returned to the Patriot League when he was appointed head coach at the College of the Holy Cross on March 28, 2023.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| St. Lawrence Saints (Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association) (1994–1997) ||||||
| 1994–95 | St. Lawrence | 10–15 | | | |
| 1995–96 | St. Lawrence | 18–9 | | | NCAA Division III Second Round |
| 1996–97 | St. Lawrence | 22–4 | | 1st | NCAA Division III First Round |
| St. Lawrence: | St. Lawrence: | 50–28 (.641) | | | |
| Le Moyne Dolphins (Northeast-10 Conference) (1997–2000) ||||||
| 1997–98 | Le Moyne | 20–8 | 14–6 | T–2nd | |
| 1998–99 | Le Moyne | 13–14 | 8–10 | T–6th | |
| 1999–00 | Le Moyne | 9–17 | 2–16 | 10th | |
| Le Moyne: | Le Moyne: | 42–39 (.519) | 24–32 (.429) | | |
| Williams Ephs (New England Small College Athletic Conference) (2000–2008) ||||||
| 2000–01 | Williams | 21–7 | 6–3 | T–1st | |
| 2001–02 | Williams | 22–6 | 7–2 | 2nd | NCAA Division III Second Round |
| 2002–03 | Williams | 31–1 | 8–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division III champion |
| 2003–04 | Williams | 30–2 | 9–0 | 1st | NCAA Division III Runner-up |
| 2004–05 | Williams | 16–9 | 4–5 | T–5th | |
| 2005–06 | Williams | 17–8 | 5–4 | T–5th | |
| 2006–07 | Williams | 16–12 | 6–3 | T–3rd | NCAA Division III First Round |
| 2007–08 | Williams | 17–8 | 4–5 | T–6th | |
| Williams: | Williams: | 170–53 (.762) | 49–23 (.681) | | |
| Bucknell Bison (Patriot League) (2008–2015) ||||||
| 2008–09 | Bucknell | 7–23 | 4–10 | T–7th | |
| 2009–10 | Bucknell | 14–17 | 9–5 | 2nd | |
| 2010–11 | Bucknell | 25–9 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round |
| 2011–12 | Bucknell | 25–10 | 12–2 | 1st | NIT Second Round |
| 2012–13 | Bucknell | 28–6 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round |
| 2013–14 | Bucknell | 16–14 | 11–7 | 4th | |
| 2014–15 | Bucknell | 19–15 | 13–5 | 1st | NIT First Round |
| Bucknell: | Bucknell: | 134–94 (.588) | 60–88 (.405) | | |
| George Mason Patriots (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2015–2021) ||||||
| 2015–16 | George Mason | 11–21 | 5–13 | T–12th | |
| 2016–17 | George Mason | 20–14 | 9–9 | T–7th | CBI First Round |
| 2017–18 | George Mason | 16–17 | 9–9 | T–5th | |
| 2018–19 | George Mason | 18–15 | 11–7 | 5th | |
| 2019–20 | George Mason | 17–15 | 5–13 | 12th | |
| 2020–21 | George Mason | 13–9 | 8–6 | T–4th | |
| George Mason: | George Mason: | 95–91 (.511) | 46–54 (.460) | | |
| Holy Cross Crusaders (Patriot League) (2023–present) ||||||
| 2023–24 | Holy Cross | 10–23 | 6–12 | T–8th | |
| 2024–25 | Holy Cross | 13–19 | 5–13 | | |
| Holy Cross: | Holy Cross: | 23–42 (.354) | 11–25 (.306) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 514–347 (.597) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||