In May of 2022, Wheaton College (Ill.) announced the appointment of
Mike Schauer '93 as the acting Director of Athletics, and Schauer was subsequently named Wheaton's Athletic Director in October of 2023. Schauer will continue in his role as Head Men's Basketball Coach during his time serving as the AD. Schauer replaced Julie Davis '91 who announced her departure as Director of Athletics in March of 2022.
Schauer rejoined his alma mater in 2009 as Head Men's Basketball Coach and was named an Assistant Athletics Director in 2018. He was on the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball National Committee from 2018-22. He served one year as the committee's Vice Chair and was Chairman of the committee in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Schauer will report to Vice President for Student Development, Dr. Paul Chelsen '91, who stated, "Mike is a talented coach, mentor, and leader. I am grateful for his willingness to accept the acting Athletics Director role after a national search did not identify a match. I am also confident that he will continue to advance the mission of the department to benefit student experience spiritually, relationally, and athletically. I know he will effectively support the important work of our coaches' contribution to the College's whole-person mission in service of Jesus Christ."
The 2025-26 season will mark
Mike Schauer's 17th year as the head coach of the Wheaton men's basketball team. In 25 years as a collegiate head coach, Schauer has posted a 403-259 career record. In his time at Wheaton, Schauer has compiled a record of 257-166 and has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program's first Division III Final Four appearance in 2019. Schauer is one of only two head coaches in the history of the Wheaton men's basketball program to reach the 400-win mark in his career, along with Bill Harris (447 career wins, 1991-2009).
Schauer earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Wheaton College in 1993 after a four-year career on the men’s basketball team. A team captain for the basketball program in the 1992-93 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 is now 11th on Wheaton's all-time three-pointer list, 12th on the school's career assists list, and a member of the program's 1,000-point club.
He remained at his alma mater as an assistant coach from 1993-2000. During this time the program enjoyed seven-consecutive winning seasons, two CCIW Championships and three NCAA Tournament bids. Schauer was a member of the Wheaton coaching staff in the 1994-95 season when the program made its first postseason appearance since 1959-60. He was also on the sideline in 1995-96 when the team won its first CCIW Championship since 1958-59.
The 2022-23 season was a very successful one for Schauer and the Thunder. Wheaton posted a record of 25-5, the program's best mark since the 2008-09 season and the most wins in a single season under Coach Schauer to date. The team captured Wheaton's first CCIW regular season championship since 2008-09 and earned 14 conference victories, the most in a season for the Thunder since 1959. Schauer passed former head coach Ed Coray to move into third place on Wheaton's all-time wins list for men's basketball, and the team spent the entire season ranked in the Top 25 of the D3hoops.com national poll. Wheaton earned hosting rights for the opening two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament and progressed to the Sectional Final for the second time in program history under Coach Schauer before falling on the road to the eventual national champion, Christopher Newport University.
Schauer was named the CCIW Coach of the Year for the first time in his career in 2023 and was also awarded the District 8 Coach of the Year honor by the NABC. Graduate guard Tyson Cruickshank collected numerous individual honors in 2022-23, including CCIW Most Outstanding Student-Athlete, D3hoops.com Region 8 Player of the Year, and NABC District 8 Player of the Year. He was named a First Team All-American by both the NABC and D3hoops.com, and Cruickshank became the first Wheaton men's basketball player to ever earn the distinction of NABC National Player of the Year. By also being awarded the 2023 Jostens Trophy for Men's Basketball, Cruickshank ensured that Schauer became the first man in Division III history to coach two Jostens Trophy recipients.
In the 2021-22 season, Schauer helped steer the Thunder to a 22-7 overall record, a 12-4 mark in conference play, and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Thunder earned the number two seed in the 2022 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament and the campaign was the team's most successful season since 2018-19. The team's leading scorer, senior guard Nyameye Adom, was named a finalist for the 2022 Jostens Trophy, as well as a D3hoops.com All-American.
Schauer's 2018-19 crew compiled a record of 23-9 and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with the Thunder head coach earning Central Region Coach of the Year honors. Wheaton posted victories over Hanover and Wooster in the first two rounds before knocking off CCIW-rival Augustana to reach the National Quarterfinals. Wheaton's come from behind win over Marietta clinched Wheaton's first trip to the National Semifinals since 1960. Senior guard Aston Francis became Wheaton's first-ever Jostens Trophy recipient and was also the first Division III player to win the Bevo Francis Award given to the nation's top small college player. Francis was named a consensus All-American as well as the D3hoops.com National Player of the Year.
Wheaton compiled a record of 21-9 in 2013-14 and earned its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Wheaton earned the trip by winning the CCIW Tournament for the first time under Coach Schauer and reached the Sweet 16 for the second time under Coach Schauer. Senior guard Tyler Peters was named a finalist for the Jostens Trophy and was a First Team All-American.
Schauer's 2012-13 team earned an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Second Round, finishing the season with a record of 21-7. Schauer was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year by D3Hoops.com
The 2011-12 team qualified for the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16 round with a 23-7 overall record. Senior forward Tim McCrary was a finalist for the Jostens Trophy and was named a First Team All-American by D3Hoops.com and the NABC.
In 2009-10, his first season as head coach of his alma mater, Schauer's Thunder squad compiled a 19-9 record, which is the best mark ever by a first-year men's basketball head coach at Wheaton. The Thunder received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament and advanced to the Second Round. Schauer was also selected as a co-winner of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s (IBCA) Division III “Coach of the Year” award. Two of Schauer's players earned All-American honors in his debut season at Wheaton, as Tim McCrary was a Second Team All-American, and Ben Panner earned honorable mention All-American accolades, as well as being tabbed as a finalist for the Jostens Trophy.
Schauer returned to Wheaton following seven seasons (2002-09) as the head coach at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. 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”. In seven seasons at Gordon, he compiled a 129-59 record, winning 68.6% of his team’s games in that time.
He began his head coaching tenure in 2000 with two seasons at Eastern College (Pa.).
Coach Schauer and his wife Elissa, also a 1993 Wheaton graduate, have three sons: Jacob, Kyle, and Caleb.
