Jonathan Furbush, assistant men's basketball coach at Springfield and former assistant coach and player at Bates, has been named Bates' new men's basketball coach.

Furbush, a 2005 Bates graduate and native of South Portland, Maine, becomes the school's 21st head men's basketball coach. He replaces Joe Reilly, who stepped down in April to take the head coaching position at Wesleyan.

In announcing the appointment Tuesday, Bates athletic director Kevin McHugh praised Furbush's "passionate commitment to the college and to the basketball program," adding that "Jon separated himself from an extremely strong candidate pool as the best fit to be the next men's basketball coach at Bates."

Furbush's appointment, McHugh said, follows a "tradition of success that Bates basketball has experienced with the appointment of young head coaches." Since 1987, Bates basketball has been led by head coaches in their 20s three times. Furbush, 25, succeeds Reilly, who was 28 when appointed in 1997. Rick Boyages, who went on to become a Division I head coach, was 24 when he began his successful four-year run as head coach in 1987.

Furbush was an assistant men's basketball coach at Springfield in 2007-08 while pursuing a master's degree in athletic administration. He held the same position for two seasons at Bates after graduating with a degree in American cultural studies.

"This is a great opportunity to get back in touch with my Maine roots," Furbush said. "Coming back to Bates is like a dream -- getting to coach at my favorite school."

As a player, Furbush started all 27 games as a senior, averaging 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.1% from three-point range.

The Bates men's basketball program has posted a winning record for eight consecutive years, the longest such streak in program history. Since 2003-04, the team has posted a 92-37 record (.713 winning percentage) and twice set records for wins in a season (19 in 2004-05 and 20 in 2005-06).

"What Joe Reilly has done is tremendous," Furbush said. "I want to build on the culture he created and add a few of my own contributions. I want to use basketball as an extension of the classroom, preparing our student-athletes for the next step in life. The players in my program will all be respectful and valuable members of the Bates community and will take pride in striving towards excellence on the court and in the classroom."