Jimmy Petruska

Jimmy Petruska begins his 12th season as the head women’s basketball coach at Saint Vincent in 2021-22, owning a career record of 202-78 during his time at the helm. Petruska helped guide the Bearcats to the PAC Championship and a National NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018-19, and his teams have appeared in five PAC Tournament title games. His teams have made it to the PAC Tournament Semifinals in every season since joining the conference as a full-time member.

Entering the new season, he ranks among the top-25 in winning percentage among all active head coaches in Division III.

The Bearcats have qualified for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship Tournament in each of his 11 seasons, while making five trips to the PAC title game and winning two conference championships. Through the end of the 2019-20 season, Petruska has seen his players earn All-PAC recognition 34 times and three PAC Player of the Year honors. He was named PAC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year in 2014-15 after leading SVC to a 22-5 overall record and a second place finish in both the regular season and Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.

The Bearcats have also made the national postseason multiple times under Coach Petruska. In addition to 2019-20, the Bearcats earned at-large bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The Bearcats landed a spot in the Division III ECAC Tournament in 2013-14 and 2017-18.

Petruska was named the second head coach in the history of the women’s basketball program at Saint Vincent College back in 2011.

He began his college coaching career in Saint Vincent in 2006, serving as a graduate assistant. In July 2007, he was promoted to become the first ever full-time assistant coach in the team’s history. After the Bearcats finished 9-16 in 2007-08, Petruska helped lead the team to a 16-8 record a season later. In 2009-10, the Bearcats finished 24-5, and captured the ECAC South championship, before their 2010-11 NCAA tourney appearance.

A native of Valencia, Pa. and 2004 graduate of Saint Vincent, Petruska began his coaching career while still a student, as an assistant at Mars High School in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs from 2002-04, before spending the 2005-06 season at neighboring Pine-Richland High School. He also was active in the AAU coaching ranks for four seasons.

A graduate from SVC with a degree in History, he also holds a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Saint Vincent. He is a 2000 graduate of Mars High School, and is the son of James and Dana Petruska – a longtime regional high school girls’ basketball coach.

Petruska currently resides in Champion with his wife, Kelly, daughter, Mackenzie, son, Wyatt, and their golden retriever, Maverick.