Bob Rukavina, a 2023 inductee into the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame and the 2015-16 and 2018-19 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division Coach of the Year, took over the men’s basketball program in 1989. Prior to his arrival, the Mountain Cats had only four winning seasons from 1969 to 1987. In 36 years, Rukavina, the 2006 National Independent Coach of the Year, has turned the Mountain Cats into one of the top Division II programs in the country. Pitt-Johnstown has made five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and has posted 10 20-win seasons, including four in a row from 2005-06 through 2008-09, and three straight in 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2022-23.
In 2007-08, Pitt-Johnstown became a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). That year, Rukavina guided Pitt-Johnstown to a 23-8 overall record and the WVIAC regular season title with a 17-3 conference record. Rukavina, the 2007-08 WVIAC Coach of the Year, also led the Mountain Cats to their third NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2008-09, Pitt-Johnstown won the WVIAC Tournament title and advanced to its second straight NCAA Tournament.
Pitt-Johnstown then joined Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to begin the 2013-14 season, where Rukavina has guided the Mountain Cats to eight consecutive conference tournament berths, and six trips to the conference quarterfinals, including four straight in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Rukavina, Pitt-Johnstown’s winningest men’s basketball coach, secured his historic 500th victory on Jan. 18, 2020 when his Mountain Cats held off Slippery Rock, 72-69, in the Sports Center. In 2024-25, he ended his 36th season with an overall record of 565-411. He ranks among the leaders of active Division II coaches in both wins (554) and winning percentage (.584).
In 1998-99, Pitt-Johnstown finished the regular season ranked fifth in the country. The Mountain Cats also tied the school record for wins in the regular season, duplicating the 23-4 mark set in 1997-98. Pitt-Johnstown posted an 87-23 record (.791 winning percentage) between 1996 and 2000. 1999-00 also marked the program’s sixth straight winning season.
In 1997-98, Rukavina guided the Mountain Cats to a school-record 24-5 record and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, before losing in the East Regional Semifinals by one point to eventual Regional Champion Fairmont State (W.Va.) College.
A year earlier, the Mountain Cats earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid and finished with a 21-6 record.
In 1992, Rukavina led Pitt-Johnstown to its first winning season since 1979, clinching it with a win over Division I Youngstown State University. It was the first win over a Division I opponent in school history.
The Mountain Cats have been one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country over the last 20 years. Pitt-Johnstown led the nation in field goal percentage in 2008 and 2010, and was the best three-point field goal shooting team in all of college basketball in 2012-13, 2013-14., and 2022-23.
Coach Rukavina's strength is recruiting. The Mountain Cats have had five players lead the NCAA in statistical categories on seven different occasions. They have had five players receive accolades ranging from All-American Honorable Mention to All-Region performers. Nine former Mountain Cats have continued their basketball careers at the professional level in various countries.
One statistic you will not see posted anywhere may be the most important to Rukavina--the rate at which his players graduate. Since he took over in 1989, the program has graduated over 90 percent of its players, a rate that will stand up to any institution in the country, especially at an institution with such high academic standards as Pitt-Johnstown. Â
In August 2004, Rukavina was selected to be an instructor with former NBA Coach of the Year Jack McKinney at the MedQuest Coaching Clinic in Beirut, Lebanon. The clinic, sponsored by the Federation of Lebanese Basketball, taught Middle Eastern basketball coaches about the game. Prior to that, Rukavina coached an all-star team that traveled to Madrid and Vigo, Spain in the summer of 1998. The team won four of five games. The trip opened up contacts for recruiting and opportunities for playing professionally after college.
Rukavina, his wife Sharon and their son Nicholas, reside in Lower Burrell, Pa.Â
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