Clarion Athletics

Damian Pitts enters his sixth season as the Golden Eagles head men’s basketball coach in 2023-24. The former head coach of Division II Centenary and longtime assistant at Millersville, he was named the 13th head men’s basketball coach in Clarion history on June 7, 2019.

Pitts coached the Golden Eagles to an 8-20 overall record in 2023-24, with sophomore Cam Kearney earning all-conference honors for the first time in his career. He was named Second Team All-PSAC West after ranking 15^th in the PSAC and eighth in the PSAC West division with a 16.6 points per game scoring average. He also ranked second on the team with a 5.7 rebounds per game average, and his two double-doubles ranked second on the team behind leader Jeremy Thomas II. 

In the 2022-23 season the Golden Eagles featured a lineup that was heavy on underclassmen, with the team's freshman class earning a significant amount of playing time in the process. That group nearly topped one of the best teams in the nation, with Clarion leading top-ranked IUP for most of the game on Feb. 11, 2023 before falling to the Crimson Hawks. Freshman Cam Kearney averaged 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while classmates Jayson Harris (7.0 ppg / 5.4 rpg) and Justice Easter (7.3 ppg / 44 steals) also made their presences felt.

The Golden Eagles had their best season of Pitts’ tenure in 2021-22, improving by four wins from their most recent full season and providing a number highlights for the year. Clarion started the season 4-1, including back-to-back wins to open the campaign against Claflin and Frostburg State. On Dec. 19, 2021 the Golden Eagles authored one of their greatest offensive performances in decades when they defeated Mansfield by a score of 112-79. It stood as the program’s highest score in a PSAC game since 1991, and the best in a PSAC game completed in regulation since Clarion beat Slippery Rock 113-80 on Feb. 17, 1979.

Individually, Gerald Jarmon continued his high-scoring ways throughout the season, averaging 20.3 points per game one year after ranking second among all NCAA Division II freshman in scoring. Jarmon became just the second Golden Eagle player to top 50 points in a game, scoring 51 against Edinboro on Feb. 7, 2021. 

Pitts’ first year at Clarion was one of rebuilding, as the veteran coach entered late in the offseason. He worked admirably to keep the Golden Eagles competitive in his first year, including back-to-back wins against PSAC opponents for the first time since the 2016-17 season. He followed that up with a strong performance during the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season, helping the team navigate a shortened bench as they improved over the course of the season. Freshman Gerald Jarmon introduced himself to the PSAC in a big way, averaging 22.4 points per game, while a host of other younger Golden Eagles improved.

Pitts was the head coach at Centenary from 2017-19, laying a foundation for success in the Cyclones’ program.  He engineered a turnaround in his second season that saw his team break the program record for consecutive wins, rattling off six straight victories as part of a 9-1 run during the 2018-19 season.  Pitts coached Centenary to a five-win improvement from his first year to his second, finishing with a 12-14 overall record and a 7-5 conference mark.  The Cyclones finished with a winning record in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) action for the first time since 2015-16 and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament for just the second time in school history.
 
Under Pitts, freshman forward Billy Veras became the second player in program history to be named the CSAC Rookie of the Year and was also a second-team all-conference selection.  Veras shot 48.0 percent from the field and averaged 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.  Sophomore guard Chris LaBelle averaged 18.5 points per game and totaled a team-high 43 steals en route to a First Team All-CSAC selection, Centenary’s first honoree since 2009-10.  Both Veras and LaBelle were also named All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Honorable Mentions.  Senior guard Tom Weiler earned all-conference honorable mention honors in 2018-19 as well.
 
Pitts is no stranger to PSAC competition, as he spent nearly two decades on the bench at Millersville during a highly successful run for the Marauders.  He began his tenure as a graduate assistant coach from 1999-2002, during which time Millersville won the 2002 PSAC East championship.  He went on to be a full-time assistant from 2004-17, helping coach the Marauders to the 2007 PSAC Championship, two PSAC Tournament finals, three NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA Regional Finals appearances.  During his tenure at Millersville, the Marauders had 21 All-PSAC East selections, including a two-time Player of the Year in Charlie Parker and a Defensive Player of the Year in Eijah Obade.  Eleven Marauders went on to play professional basketball, and two of Pitts’ charges have been named to the Millersville Hall of Fame. 
 
Pitts earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Goucher College, where he was also a standout basketball player.  He received a Master’s degree in Sport Management from Millersville in 2002.