Rob Colbert, who had been the head coach of the varsity girls basketball team at Monadnock Regional High School and as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Keene State College for a significant amount of time, passed away on Monday. He was 53 years old.
The news of Colbert’s passing was communicated to the personnel at Monadnock Regional Middle/High School via email sent by Principal Lisa Spencer on Tuesday morning at approximately ten o’clock.
The Superintendent of the Monadnock Regional School District, Jeremy Rathbun, issued the following statement to The Sentinel on Wednesday morning: “We at Monadnock Regional School District are deeply saddened by the news of Rob Colbert’s passing.” Our thoughts and prayers are with the Colbert family, as well as the students and members of the community who were profoundly impacted by his presence at MRSD.
Colbert joined the men’s basketball programme at Keene State in 1995, initially serving as an assistant coach and then as the recruiting coordinator. He continued to serve in both capacities until he was promoted to the position of head coach in 1999. Colbert led the team to a record-setting 284 victories over the course of 16 seasons, while suffering 159 defeats.
Two Little East Conference Tournament titles, three Little East Conference regular season titles, and three trips to the NCAA Tournament were all accomplished by the Owls while Colbert was serving as their coach. With a record of 25-6 in 2003–2004, the Owls made it to the Elite 8 for the very first time in the history of the programme.
Again, the Owls advanced to the Sweet 16 in the year 2007. During the years 2002 and 2004, Colbert was honoured with the title of Little East Coach of the Year. He coached fifteen players that were named to the All-Conference team. Chris Coates in 2001, Dave Stantial in 2002, and Tyler Kathan in 2007 and 2009 were the three Owls who won a combined total of four Little East Player of the Year Awards while Colbert was the coach. In addition, all three of them were declared all-Americans.
