Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College (Ill.) Athletic Director Tony Ladd announced the hiring of Mike Schauer as the head coach of the Thunder men's basketball program on Wednesday. He replaces Bill Harris, who announced his retirement in March after 18 years at the helm of the Thunder.

Schauer comes to Wheaton following seven seasons as the head coach at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He began his head coaching tenure in 2000 with two seasons at Eastern College (Pa.). In nine years as a collegiate head coach, Schauer has posted a 146-93 career record. In seven seasons at Gordon he compiled a 129-59 record, winning 68.6% of his team's games in that time.

Ladd says of Schauer, “Mike is an excellent choice for Wheaton, from every perspective: in terms of the basketball component, his ability to serve as a mentor and his skills as a proven leader.” Ladd adds, “We had an outstanding pool of applicants, however, Mike rose to the top in the process. He brings a familiarity to Wheaton and has a proven track record of success as a head coach at the Division III level.”
No stranger to Wheaton, Schauer earned his Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Wheaton College in 1993, after a four-year career in the men's basketball program. A team captain for the basketball program in the 1992-1993 season, Schauer ranked first all-time at Wheaton in career three-point field goals made (171) and third all-time in career assists (290) at the time of his graduation. He remained at his alma mater as an assistant coach from 1993-2000. During his time as Harris' assistant, the program enjoyed seven consecutive winning seasons and earned three NCAA tournament bids.

In seven seasons at Gordon, Schauer turned around a program that had achieved only five winning campaigns in the 30 seasons prior to his arrival. All seven of his Fighting Scots teams achieved a winning record. His 2005-2006 Gordon team appeared in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, marking the program's first NCAA Tournament selection, as Gordon finished that season with a school-record for victories by compiling a 23-5 record. The Fighting Scots won the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) regular season championship in 2005-06, as Schauer was recognized as the league's “Coach of the Year”.

Schauer says of the opportunity to coach at Wheaton, “This is a tremendous opportunity. For those of us that desire to coach at a Christian college, Wheaton is the pinnacle. This institution is the top Christian College in the country.” He notes of returning to his alma mater, “It is a homecoming in every sense of the word, because much of my spiritual and professional development took place at Wheaton, not to mention the family and friends that I still have here.”

Coach Schauer and his wife Elissa, a 1993 Wheaton graduate, have three sons: Jacob, Kyle and Caleb.

Schauer assumes a Wheaton program that posted a 26-4 record last season, advancing to the NCAA Division III Sectional for the second consecutive year. Three starters are slated to return for Wheaton next year with senior All-Conference guard Ben Panner and forward Jake Carwell coming back for the Thunder. Forward Tim McCrary also returns following a freshman campaign that saw him earn recognition as the D3hoops.com “Midwest Region Rookie of the Year”.