Longtime Santa Fe College Basketball Coach Chris Mowry Retires

After dedicating 21 years to the Santa Fe College men’s basketball team, coach Chris Mowry decided to retire.

Mowry is leaving a legacy after 21 seasons with the Saints. He leads the way in conference wins (134), all-time wins (384) and conference titles (five) for the SFC record books. Mowry was also named conference coach of the year five times.

The Decision

Mowry’s decision to retire is something he says had been on his mind throughout the year.

“Being a head coach at any college level, but especially at a level where you don’t have a large support staff, is a lot of work,” Mowry said. “It’s very time consuming and there were just times this year when I was a little bit tired. Felt like maybe, I hadn’t done quite as much as I should have; preparing for a game or whatever we had to do at that time of the year.”

Mowry explained there are several other things that he likes to do. He said he plans to take this time to go out and do them.

“I’m kind of ready for a new adventure,” he said.

Coach Chris

Mowry is known for making a difference on and off the court. He made numerous connections in the community that have helped pay for evening meals for his team.

Mowry is a huge advocate for increasing scholarships and spent countless hours aiding students as they navigated college. During his time at Santa Fe, Mowry helped more than 110 players earn scholarships to the next level.

“Those relationships, I have so many players that I am still in touch with or they’re in touch with me,” he said. “They stop by or they tell me they got married or they had some kids. Or they got a new job. It’s those things I tell our guys ‘Hey it’s hard for you to believe, but like 20-30 years from now you’re not going to remember the games, but you’re going to remember your teammates and you’re coaches.’ That’s what you remember.”

The investment he made to each one of his players is evident in their successes. Several of Mowry’s former students have been honored as academic all-conference, all-state and 15 have been named NJCAA All-Academic.

“Building a team from the beginning and to see how good you can be at the end, is for me what made coaching,” Mowry said.