In his eight seasons as the head coach at Wesley College, Jerry Kobasa has rebuilt the program at his alma mater.  A long-time respected fixture in Delaware sports, Kobasa took a team that had just two winning seasons in 17 years before his arrival and taken them to the NCAA Tournament  three times in the last five seasons.

Now the winningest coach in Wesley Division III history, Kobasa's teams have produced a pair of All-Americans, two conference players of the year, three conference rookies of the year, five ECAC All-Star selections and ten all-region honors.  The Wolverines have had a first team all-conference player in seven of his eight seasons.

This past year, the Wolverines enjoyed arguably their best season ever with its first 20-win season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the midst of the year, Wesley matched a program-record with 11-straight wins which included victories over No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan, ninth-ranked St. Mary’s and Cabrini, all of whom advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, and a pair reaching the Elite 8. Paul Reynolds became Kobasa’s second All-American at Wesley, and he was also named the CAC and ECAC Player of the Year and was selected to play in Reese’s Division III All-Star Game.

There were several other milestones for Kobasa and the Wolverines in the 2012-13 season.  With a near-perfect record in January, Kobasa was named the DIII News Coach of the Month and Wesley earned its first-ever National ranking, reaching as high as No. 24.  David Langan joined Reynolds on the All-CAC First Team, marking the first time a pair of Wolverines were named first team all-conference, and freshman Wayne Lennon was named to the DIII News All-Freshman Team, the CAC Rookie of the Year and D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year. To cap off the year, Kobasa was inducted into the BlueGold Basketball Hall of Fame at the Delaware State High School All-Star Game.

Two years ago in the 2011-12 season, the Wolverines overcame several injuries but won four of their last five games to advance to, and host a CAC Tournament Game.  The team recorded at least ten CAC victories for the fourth-straight season and Paul Reynolds went on to earn All-CAC and All-Region honors.  During the season, Kobasa earned his 100th career victory with a 75-68 win over Frostburg.  Wesley's 12th and final win of the season was Kobasa's 108th at the school, tying him for the most in program-history.

His 2010-11 team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings and reached the CAC Championship game for the third straight year.  Paul Reynolds and Darrell Johnson earned All-CAC honors and Reynolds was named all-region by D3hoops.com.

With 18 wins, the team tied the 2008-09 squad for the second most in the Division III era.  In the process, Kobasa was named the CAC Co-Coach of the Year.

The Wolverines continued their journey to the top with a Division III school record 19 wins and second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.  Wesley also featured the CAC Rookie of the Year in Paul Reynolds, who finished among the national leaders in field goal percentage and two All-CAC selections.

In 2008-09, the team posted 18 wins and Wesley's first conference championship in men's basketball in 21 years, resulting in the program's first bid to the NCAA Championships.  The Wolverines led the conference in scoring average, steals, turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio, offensive rebounds, and three-point field goals.  Rashawn Johnson was named the CAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring and was named both all-region and All-American.

The 2007-2008 season marked the first year of play in the CAC for the Wolverines. The team finished with an impressive 9-7 mark in conference action and led the CAC in both steals and turnover margin. Under his tutelage, Rashawn Johnson earned first team all-conference and was named to a pair of all-region teams after finishing 16th in the nation in scoring.

In each of his first two seasons, Kobasa helped lead the Wolverines to consecutive trips into the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament, including a trip to the finals in 2006, resulting in a bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Southern Division Tournament that same year.

Kobasa compiled a 249-130 record in 16 years as a head coach at Sussex Tech (182-57) and Smyrna High School. A 1969 graduate of Wesley and member of the College's Athletic Hall of Fame, Kobasa was named Delaware Coach of the Year by the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association in 1979 and 2004.

Kobasa's athletic resume is impressive. After a star-studded football and baseball career at

Wesley, he served as offensive back and quarterback coach at both Wesley and Delaware State University before accepting basketball and football coaching positions at Smyrna High School. Coach Kobasa has been associated with prominent national coaches such as Bob Huggins (West Virginia University), Mike Brey (University of Notre Dame), Frank Martin (South Carolina), and Greg Jackson (Delaware State University).

In 1995, he became the head basketball coach at Sussex Tech. In 2004, Coach Kobasa was named the State Coach of the Year for the second time. He has earned Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year honors three times and has been selected as the coach of a team in the Blue-Gold High School All-Star Game three times. At Sussex Tech, he has won four Henlopen Conference Northern Division crowns and four Henlopen Conference Championships. He guided the Ravens to the state tournament every year and earned two final four finishes. His teams ranked in the top 10 in the state final basketball rankings in eight of his ten seasons.

Inducted into the Wesley College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, Kobasa is also a former member of the Wesley Alumni Association Board of Directors. In addition to chairing the Board of Directors of DIAA, he has been a member of the Board of the Blue/Gold All-Star Basketball game for seven years, is the former chair of the Henlopen Conference Boys Basketball Committee, and is a member of the State Girls' High School Basketball Tournament Committee.

Kobasa was reappointed to the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association by the Governor of Delaware as a public member in June of 2007, and is chairman of the association for the 2007-2008 year. He is a former long-time member of the Delaware Secondary Schools Athletic Association Board of Directors (the organization that preceded DIAA), the Milford Boys and Girls Club Board, and is a former President of the Henlopen Conference and the Henlopen Basketball Coaches Association. He is also a former President of the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association.

Dean Burrows will be entering his first season on Coach Kobasa’s staff as an assistant coach at Wesley College for the 2012-13 season.

“For the past few years I have focused and dedicated myself to one day be in the position to have the opportunity to be able to teach this game at the college level. I cannot thank Coach Kobasa enough for this opportunity that he has given me. My goal now is to be the best assistant in the nation at the Division III level for Coach, our players, fans, and Wesley College.”

Burrows has over 11 years-experience coaching basketball at the high school level. Burrows broke into the coaching ranks at his alma mater, Salesianum School (Wilmington, DE), where he served as an assistant for three years.

After graduating from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Health Behavior Management, Burrows moved to Fort Myers, FL where he served as the assistant dean of students and assistant basketball coach at Bishop Verot Catholic High School. During his five years on staff at Verot, Burrows helped in the development of seven Division I players and several Division III, NAIA, and JUCO players. His last year on staff at Verot, was the program’s first and only trip to the state Final Four where their run ended against eventual state champion, Pine Crest School, that featured the Gatorade Player of the Year and current NBA player Brandon Knight.

After leaving Florida, Burrows returned to his native Delaware and has spent the past three seasons taking on the challenge of trying to change the culture of the boys’ basketball program at St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia. During his short time at St. Thomas More, Burrows has had one player move on to play basketball at the DIII level and has coached in the Blue/Gold Senior All-Star basketball and baseball games. Burrows will continue in his role as Director of Athletics and teacher of Social Studies at STMA.

Burrows has been an instructor at several basketball camps in Florida, Delaware, and at the Dave Hopla Shooting Camp which is a part of the Hoop Group Skills Camp in the Poconos. He has also had several items published in the basketball coaching magazine, Winning Hoops. Burrows is an active member of the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) and has been for the past seven years.

Burrows and his wife Stefanie live in Wilmington and have three children: Isabella, Jaelynn, and Trey.

Devin Jones comes to Wesley College after spending one year at Frostburg State University before completing his playing career as point guard at Salisbury University.  While with the Sea Gulls, Jones was a three year starter and captain for the Maroon and Gold. A native of Severn, MD and graduate of Old Mill High School, Jones finished his career at Salisbury scoring 1,000 points, grabbing 290 rebounds, dishing out 228 assists despite only playing three seasons. Throughout his career Jones also shot over 40% from three-point range and 80% from the line.

Off of the court Jones was actively involved on and off campus.  He served as the President of both Salisbury and the Capital Athletic Conference’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).  While holding that position he organized and oversaw monthly meetings with fellow student athletes.  During his time as President, the committee organized toy drives for the surrounding community as well as a campus-wide event celebrating “National Student-Athlete Day.” He also was a mentor at a local elementary school, a Peer Leader for incoming freshman classes at Salisbury University, and a member of a Relay for Life team who raised the most money during the event all three years he participated.  Jones received a BS from Salisbury where he was a double major in Geography/Geosciences and Political Science.  

Jones is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree here at Wesley in Environmental Science.  He and his longtime girlfriend, Ashley reside in Milford.