Andrew Morong has stepped down as head coach of the Central Maine Community College women’s basketball team. Morong led the Mustangs to four USCAA Division 2 national titles. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)
AUBURN — From the moment Andrew Morong was hired as head coach of the women’s basketball team at Central Maine Community College in 2011, he has preached the same message.
“There’s no one person bigger than the program. And if you can’t be all in, you can’t be a part of our program,” Morong said Wednesday.
A decade and a half later, Morong is taking that message to heart, announcing that he is stepping down as coach of the Mustangs only a few weeks after leading them to the USCAA Division II national title for the fourth time in nine seasons.
Morong will remain with CMCC in an admissions capacity, continuing in his role as dean of enrollment for the college, but will step away from coaching at the collegiate level. The only coaching he plans to do moving forward will revolve around his two kids’ teams.
“I got to the point where I love this program so much that the program is more important than me coaching it, because if I can’t dedicate the time and energy it needs to continue evolving, then I shouldn’t be the coach anymore,” Morong said.
Morong, who was head coach of Poland High’s girls basketball team from 2008 to 2011 before taking over at CMCC, cited preserving the program and ensuring its future growth and evolution as his primary reasons for stepping down. He said he arrived at his decision about two months ago, but held out on a formal announcement so as not to distract from his team’s postseason run.
“Would it be fair for me to continue coaching and only be able to give 10% of what the program needs out of a head coach?” Morong said. “I don’t want to hang on so long that I drive the program into mediocrity because I personally don’t want to walk away … that wouldn’t be fair to the kids in the program, the program as a whole, the alumni, and everything like that.”
CMCC Athletic Director Dave Gonyea said the search for a new head coach will begin as soon as this week.
“It’s going to be a huge loss for us,” Gonyea said. “(Morong’s) a valuable member of our staff and a legendary coach, and in my mind, he’s probably the best women’s basketball coach in the state of Maine.”
The Mustangs’ national title earlier this month, which was earned with a decisive 74-46 victory over Miami-Hamilton, was the program’s fourth under Morong. They also won USCAA championships in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
“When you come here, you’re not just a player,” Morong said. “You are part of something a lot bigger than basketball. And you’re a part of it for far longer than your time is here, so five, 10, 15 years after you leave this program, those relationships still remain intact. And to me, that’s what it’s all about. That’s transformational coaching, that’s transformational relationships.”
The Mustangs went 376-55 under Morong, an 87.2% winning percentage. But it’s the long-lasting collaborations and connections that made his 15 years as head coach special.
“In a day and age where everything is transfer portal this and higher paying job that, and everything like that, I think it’s very rare to be able to build those types of relationships, and that’s why I think our program is so unique,” Morong said. “I really don’t think there’s many others like it at any level in our state, and I’m just so proud of being a part of building that.”
