Shane Loeffler was named the Swarthmore College head men's basketball coach in March 2025.
Loeffler takes over the reins after playing a pivotal role in men's basketball's most successful era. A Swarthmore graduate, he spent 12 seasons alongside predecessor Landry Kosmalski as both a player and coach. Loeffler played for the Garnet from 2012 to 2016 before transitioning to the coaching staff in 2017. Since joining the staff, the program has compiled a 170-39 overall record, boasting an .813 winning percentage with two NCAA Tournament Final Four appearances and three Centennial Conference Championships.
Loeffler joined the coaching staff at the start of the 2017-18 season. That year, the team set a program record for wins, achieved its highest national ranking in history, and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The following year, the Garnet set their current program record with 29 wins and peaked at No. 2 in the national rankings. The team won its second Centennial Conference Championship in program history and finished the season as national runner-up, making their first of two Final Four appearances in school history.
The Garnet were poised for another national championship appearance in 2019-20 until the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. Swarthmore finished the Covid-shortened season as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation with a 28-1 overall record, and were the last unbeaten team in all of college basketball.
Heading into the 2020-2021 season, Loeffler was promoted to associate head coach. Despite a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, the Garnet returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season with Loeffler on staff. The team won 22 games with a young nucleus and was ranked as high as No. 8 nationally. The following year, Swarthmore put it all together with a 28-win season, advancing to its second Final Four appearance. The team claimed its first of two consecutive Centennial Championships and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation.
Swarthmore cut down the nets once more in 2023-24 with its second-straight conference championship victory over Johns Hopkins University. The team made their sixth-straight NCAA appearance with Loeffler, whose role and responsibilities expanded each season.
Before making an impact as a member of the coaching staff, Loeffler played a key role in establishing the team's trademark culture as a student-athlete. He played four seasons for the Garnet while earning his bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in history. A guard from West Grove, Pa., Loeffler was a freshman on the first Kosmalski-led squad, which went 7-18 after winning just three games the previous season. The team improved its win total in each of Loeffler's four seasons on the roster, culminating in a program-record 22 wins and a Centennial Conference runner-up finish during his senior year.
A key contributor during his senior season, Loeffler appeared in all 30 games, making six starts. Loeffler saved his best performance for the biggest game of his collegiate career, scoring a career-high 18 points with six rebounds and five three-pointers in the Centennial Championship at Franklin & Marshall College. He rose to the occasion with five consecutive double-digit performances leading up to the championship, earning a spot in the starting lineup for the final six games of the season.
