Don Cushing begins his 10th year on the Worcester State coaching staff as an assistant to Dave Lindberg. Cushing, who played for the Lancers from 1962 to 1966, was a 1,000 point scorer and grabbed 1,000 rebounds in his career. He also served as captain and won the team MVP award his senior season. In 1988 he was inducted into the Worcester State Athletic Hall of Fame for his athletic excellence.

Cushing has an extensive coaching resume in both the high school and college ranks. He was the head coach of Bartlett High School from 1966-1977 and then became the head coach of Nichols College from 1977 to 1982 before returning to Bartlett as coach from 1983 to 1998. Cushing won 15 league titles and reached the state tournament 21 times including three appearances in the semifinals. He finished his high school coaching career with a record of 405-162 and in 2003 he was elected to the Massachusetts High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Cushing graduated from Worcester State with a degree in education and received his Masters from WSU in Education in 1970. An educator at Bartlett High School for 35 years, he served as a teacher, assistant principal, athletic director and coach at Bartlett during different stages if his career.

In recent years, Coach Cushing has served as the scouting coordinator for the WSU women’s team and, after retiring from the education field, returned in 2001 as a Development Officer for the Alumni department heading up the Lancer Club. He has also remained active in the Hall of Fame serving as Chairman and now as a member of the Hall of Fame Committee.

In 2007, Cushing was honored with the Paul N. Johnson Award presented for his contribution to basketball in Central Massachusetts. In 2009, Cushing was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for his role as a player and coach at the college and high school levels.

A Lancer to the core, Cushing’s wife, brother and two daughters are all WSU graduates.