SUNY Cortland Athletics

A successful coach at both Waterloo (N.Y.) High and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), William H. Carey '50 guided the growth of Nazareth College athletics into national prominence as its athletic director from 1980 until his retirement in June 1998. The Constableville, N.Y., native served in a U.S. Army M.A.S.H. unit in 1946 before earning both bachelor's and master's degrees at SUNY Cortland. He competed in basketball and baseball, along with one year of soccer. He pitched a no-hit, no run game against the University of Bridgeport in 1950.

Carey taught physical education at King Ferry (N.Y.) High School before joining Waterloo High as a teacher and coach. Between 1954 and 1966, he directed Waterloo to two sectional baseball titles and three sectional basketball championships. In 1968, Carey became the head basketball coach at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he compiled a 162-123 record, captured four Chase Tournament titles and appeared in both the ECAC and NCAA post-season tournaments. He was RIT director of athletics the last three years.

At Nazareth, Carey built the athletics program from 75 to 275 student-athletes and introduced men's and women's lacrosse, women's soccer and field hockey.

He is a past chair of the NCAA East Region Men's Basketball and Men's Ice Hockey Committees, the ECAC Upstate New York Men's Basketball Selection Committee, and the ECAC Men's and Women's Soccer Committees. Carey was the first inductee into the Chase Bank Basketball Tournament Hall of Fame and is a member of the Halls of Fame at RIT, Nazareth College and Waterloo High School. In 1990, the Rochester Press Radio Club presented him with its Al Weber Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports. In 1998, he was one of 21 Rochester area sports legends inducted into the Frontier Field Walk of Fame.

He and his wife, Barbara, have two children: Mike and Beth.

UPDATE: Carey passed away on August 31, 2023, at age 95.