Mike Deane revived a struggling Delhi men's basketball program starting in 1976, compiling 70 wins over four seasons. By the end of the decade the Broncos were back in the NJCAA Region 3 championship chase and finished with a 21-win season in Deane's final year in 1979-80. He moved on to a two-year run as head man at SUNY Oswego, guiding the Lakers to the ECAC Tournament before starting his 30-plus year run at the NCAA Division I level when he joined the Michigan State coaching staff. Deane's first Division I head coaching assignment was at Siena College, where his Saints won 166 games from 1986-94, reached the second round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, and made three NIT Tournament appearances, including a third-place finish in 1994. All told, he led four NCAA Division I programs – Siena, Marquette, Lamar, Wagner – and steered Siena, Marquette, and Lamar to the NCAA Division I Tournament, including twice with Marquette. Deane's last coaching stop was as an assistant at James Madison from 2012 to 2017. Originally from Stony Point, NY, Deane was a SUNY basketball product at Potsdam State, earning Small College All-American nods in 1973 and 1974, and was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the '74 NBA Draft.