CBS Philly: Swarthmore Hoops Taking National Ranking in Stride

The Swarthmore College men’s basketball program is in uncharted territory these days.

For the first time ever, the Garnet are nationally ranked. This week, 6-0 Swarthmore came in 22nd in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

While this generates a lot of attention for the program, it is a feat that the head coach is taking in stride.

“We’re humbled and honored to receive that recognition,” says Swarthmore head coach Landry Kosmalski, “and I’m sure our fans and the school and people around the program are happy about it. But we’re going to go into practice today and the game [Wednesday against Centennial Conference rival Ursinus; watch live at 8 p.m.] just focusing on our own team goals and making sure we don’t get distracted by outside things over which we have no control.”

The Garnet program has blossomed under Kosmalski, who is in his fifth season.

The 2015-16 campaign saw Swarthmore go 22-8, with the win total shattering the previous program single season record of 17. It was also the first winning season for the Garnet since the 1996-97 campaign.

Kosmalski says this season’s success is a total team effort.

“I think we’ve got a lot of depth,” he says. “With that depth, we have an unselfish mentality, we have unselfish players, and it’s really just been a different person or set of players every game that’s doing well.”

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