Mike McDevitt, the winningest coach in the history of the Saint Joseph’s College of Maine women’s basketball program, announced his retirement from active coaching on March 20. McDevitt served at the helm of the Monks program for thirty-two seasons during two separate tenures (1987-2003, 2009-2025) at the college. In 2008-2009, he coached the University of Southern Maine women’s team. Overall, McDevitt compiled a won-loss record of 667-231 (.743) for his career and never had a losing season.
McDevitt retires as one of the most successful NCAA Division III women’s basketball coaches in the nation. He guided the Saint Joseph’s women’s program to nineteen league championships, including six in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). McDevitt also led the Royal Blue to fourteen appearances in national tournaments, seven apiece in the NAIA and NCAA Division III. In the process, he has garnered the recognition and respect of his peers by collecting fifteen conference or regional coach of the year awards. McDevitt earned top coaching honors in the GNAC on six separate occasions while also being named Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three times (1999, 2017, 2018) and New England Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 2018.
“I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found a career doing something I have truly loved,” observes McDevitt. “Our players’ and assistant coaches’ commitment and dedication to our basketball program have been the reason we were successful at St. Joseph’s College.”
A Maine native, McDevitt enjoyed a successful playing career at Ellsworth High School under former Monks men’s head basketball coach Rick Simonds. He followed his high school mentor to Standish and was a four-year starter for the Saint Joseph’s College of Maine basketball program, where he scored 1381 points and collected 674 rebounds. His Monks teams won 65 games during his undergraduate career and captured the Western Maine Athletic Conference (WMAC) championship during his senior season. He graduated in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. For his efforts, he was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
After a stint as an assistant coach with the Monks men’s basketball program, McDevitt took over the Monks in 1987 and immediately guided them to top honors in both the WMAC and the region, culminating in the first of five NAIA national tournament berths in the next five campaigns. With McDevitt on the bench, the Monks would win twenty games in each of his first eight seasons as head coach. Saint Joe’s women’s basketball would collect 326 victories (20.4 per season) in McDevitt’s first sixteen seasons with the program. The Monks’ home for much of that stretch was the Bernard Currier Gymnasium (aka “The Chamber of Horrors”), where SJC proved to be a dominant opponent against other teams in its district. At the same time, he was the director of the popular Gold Star Basketball Camp that attracted high school players from throughout New England during the summer months.
Following a period working in private business, McDevitt resumed his career as a head women’s basketball coach in 2008-2009, leading longtime local rival USM to a 22-7 record and the Little East Conference championship. The following season, he returned to the bench at the Harold Alfond Center to lead the Monks women’s basketball program as it was in its third year of its membership in the GNAC. In his first season back on the SJC sidelines, he led the Monks to the league’s top division, a position that it enjoyed throughout his second stint with Saint Joseph’s. The Monks won GNAC championships in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024, earning a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament on each occasion. He also enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as one of the northeast’s top recruiters and teachers of the game. Overall, twenty-three of his players eclipsed the 1000-point plateau during their careers.
In addition to his duties as SJC women’s basketball coach, McDevitt has also served as an associate athletic director at the Standish school, working more specifically as its director of NCAA compliance and as the director of the annual SJC Alumni & Friends Golf Classic. A versatile member of the college coaching staff, he also enjoyed a successful five-season stint as the Monks women’s volleyball coach (101-60) and a ten-year run as the head coach of the SJC golf team. For his overall contributions to the Saint Joseph’s athletic program and distinguished and successful career as the women’s basketball mentor, the court at the Harold Alfond Center was named in his honor in December of 2021.
“Mike McDevitt’s name is synonymous with Saint Joseph’s College women’s basketball,” said SJC interim athletic director Gary Stevens. “His presence on the sideline will be greatly missed, but he has placed personal stamp of excellence on the program. His commitment to his players and their personal and collective well-being is unmatched; he has impacted countless lives in a positive manner.”
McDevitt is married to the former Margaret O’Brion, a fellow SJC Hall of Famer who eclipsed the 1000-rebound plateau while playing basketball for the Royal Blue. Their children Megan (Saint Joseph’s College of Maine ’12) Michael (Franklin Pierce ’18), and Matthew (Endicott ’21) also competed collegiately in the sport. Collectively, the McDevitt family scored 5746 points at the college level. “My family have been my biggest supporters,” adds McDevitt, “and without them I would not have been able to be the coach I am today.”
McDevitt will remain on the Saint Joseph’s College of Maine athletic staff as its associate athletic director and compliance administrator. He will be replaced in his role as head women’s basketball coach by Dr. Christopher Woodside, who has served as his assistant for the past four seasons.
Tagged with: D3
