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24-433: Arseneault in 1989 inherited a Grinnell program that had not had a winning season in 25 years. After a couple years of trying out traditional eight-player rotations, he felt Grinnell needed to change its basketball philosophy to rejuvenate the team and have more fun. Grinnell was a Division III school that did not offer athletic scholarships , and players that did not receive playing time were quitting. Arseneault developed

48-689: A Bachelor of Arts in Administrative Science in 1976. As a senior in 1975–76 at guard , Arseneault played 22 games and averaged 5.3 points. He then went to Canada and received a Master of Education from Brock University in 1985. After playing at UPEI in the 1976–77 season and Lakehead University in the 1977–78 season, Arseneault coached college basketball in Canada in Ontario Universities Athletics Association , later known as Ontario University Athletics (OAU), for

72-496: A barrage of three-point shots and substitutions of five players at a time every 35 to 40 seconds. This allows a higher average playing time for more players than the "starters" and suits the Division III goals of scholar-athletes. "The System" has been criticized for not teaching the principles of defense. However, under "The System," Grinnell has won three conference championships over the past ten years and have regularly placed in

96-455: A losing program; he added that Arseneault was a member of the Grinnell faculty and expected to share his insights with peers in his field. Critics including Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com charged that Arseneualt influenced his book sales by having his players' scoring records coincide with the books' release. In August 2013, Arseneault released his second book, titled System Successes ; during

120-456: A record. Three times an Arseneault-coached player has set the Division III single-game scoring record, each time against an opponent from a lower division. His son and then-Grinnell associate head coach David Jr. said the team allowed one player to score so much since Grinnell was trying to win their conference and lead the nation in scoring, and their "best hope of winning a conference title

144-603: A regular season basketball game by the ESPN network family in 30 years when it faced off against the Beloit Buccaneers on ESPN2 . Grinnell lost 86–85. Grinnell College's basketball team attracted ESPN due to the team's run and gun style of playing basketball, also known as the Grinnell System . Coach Dave Arseneault 's "system" incorporates a continual full-court press, a fast-paced offense, an emphasis on offensive rebounding,

168-494: A shot, the Grinnell System has a designated shooter on the court. The system employs a constant full-court press on defense. While opponents get easy baskets when they beat the press, the team receives the ball back sooner to attempt a three-pointer. The goal is to get significantly more shots than the opponent by forcing more turnovers and getting more offensive rebounds. When a player misses, Arseneault believed that rebounding

192-470: A successful team and more on getting his players' names in the record books." However, former Grinnell player Ross Preston, author of the book The Road to 138 , counters that Arseneault transformed a program that was a combined 52–222 with no championships under its four previous coaches, and the choice to use his system was to improve the program, with the scoring records being only a byproduct. Under Arseneault, Grinnell has designated select games to pursue

216-417: A winning season in 25 years. After a couple years of trying out traditional eight-player rotations, he felt Grinnell needed to change its basketball philosophy to rejuvenate the team and have more fun. Arseneault developed the Grinnell System . Over 26 years, Grinnell won four conference championships, advanced to the postseason 11 times, and led the nation in scoring at all levels of college basketball in 17 of

240-529: Is a former college basketball head coach. He invented the Grinnell System , a run-and-gun style that he employed with the Grinnell Pioneers . He was also an associate professor of physical education on Grinnell's faculty. Arseneault's son, David Jr. , who played under his father at Grinnell, later served on his staff and eventually succeeded him as Pioneers head coach. Arseneault played college basketball at Colby College , where he graduated with

264-442: Is divided into three groups of five and new shifts are substituted every 45 to 90 seconds. Each shift plays at full speed and then rests while the next group does the same. Players rarely play more than 20 minutes a game. Arseneault and the Grinnell program have been criticized for using the system to run up the score and set records, especially against overmatched opponents. Other college and high school programs have also adopted

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288-415: Is our best player playing at a high level." Earlier as a player with Grinnell, David Jr. once set the national record for assists in a game (34) when the team was instructed to shoot only if they received the pass from him. Critics have hinted that Arseneault designed the Grinnell System as a scheme to get national attention and sell books. Preston countered that the system started as a means to turn around

312-737: The Grinnell College , located in Grinnell, Iowa , United States , in NCAA Division III basketball competition. Grinnell was a member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1919 though 1928 when it split in two. It would ultimately stay in what was renamed the Missouri Valley Conference . In February 2005, Grinnell became the first Division III school featured in

336-579: The Guelph Gryphons and McMaster Marauders . He moved to the United States and coached women's basketball in New Hampshire for two years at the now-defunct Hawthorne College , where he was also their athletic director , before coaching the men's team in rural Iowa for the Grinnell Pioneers beginning in 1989. He inherited a Grinnell program, which competed in Division III , that had not had

360-504: The 2013–14 season, Taylor scored 109 points and Grinnell guard Patrick Maher set an NCAA record with 37 assists, breaking David Jr.'s previous record. Taylor' big game came against Crossroads College , which played in National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), a level below National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which was lower than Grinnell's Division III; Maher's record

384-414: The Grinnell System, which incorporated a dozen or more players in a game. According to his son, David Jr. , who also played and later coached under his father at Grinnell, Arseneault did not believe the system would be a competitive strategy, but thought the increased scoring would develop a more positive environment, even if the team lost. Through 2012, Grinnell won five conference championships, advanced to

408-654: The Grinnell System. David Arseneault Jr. , the coach's son, ran a modified version of The System after being named the head coach of the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League in 2014–15. Limited to a 10-man roster and subject to the D-League's high roster turnover, Arseneault adjusted the system, abandoning its hockey-style substitutions and full-court press. Grinnell Pioneers men%27s basketball The Grinnell Pioneers men's basketball team represents

432-498: The ball and giving the player the same shot within ten seconds usually resulted in a basket. The overall goal of the system is to take 100 shots, make half the shots 3-point attempts, force 32 turnovers, rebound one-third of the team's own misses, and outshoot the opponents by 30 attempts. To keep his players fresh and get more individuals involved, Arseneault added to Westhead's system by substituting players in three waves of five players, similar to an ice hockey shift . A 15-man roster

456-562: The high-scoring game 145 to 97. On November 20, 2012, Grinnell's Jack Taylor broke Lentsch's scoring record—as well as the records for NCAA and collegiate scoring—in a 179–104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible . Taylor scored 138 points, besting the previous NCAA record of 113. Taylor scored 109 points in a November 2013 game against Crossroads College to become the first player in NCAA history to have two 100-point games. In December 2022, Grinnell set an NCAA record (in all divisions) for taking

480-410: The most three-point shots at 111 attempts. Every attempted field goal was from beyond the three-point arc and Grinnell beat Emmaus Bible College , 124 to 67. For all the plaudits Grinnell receives for The System, leading the nation in scoring rarely translates into success against better quality opponents. In the twenty-first century, the team has only won its conference championship three times. That

504-556: The past 19 seasons. Areseneault retired in June 2018. He was succeeded by his son, David Jr. , who had been serving as the Pioneers' interim head coach. After Grinnell's Jack Taylor twice scored 100 points in a game, including an NCAA-record 138, Arseneault and his program have been criticized for focusing on records and running up the score on overmatched opponents. Deadspin wrote that Arseneault "has focused less on putting together

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528-502: The postseason 11 times, and led the nation in scoring at all levels of college basketball in 17 of the past 19 seasons. Under the system, Grinnell guard Jack Taylor scored an NCAA-record 138 points in a 2012 game, and 109 in a 2013 game. Previously, Grinnell players Jeff Clement (77) and Griffin Lentsch (89) held the Division III scoring record. The main tenets of the system are: Unlike Westhead's system, in which any open player takes

552-536: The top half of the conference. Arseneault's teams have set numerous NCAA scoring records and several individuals on the Grinnell team have led the nation in scoring or assists. On November 19, 2011, Grinnell player Griffin Lentsch set a Division III individual scoring record in a game against Principia College . The 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m) guard scored 89 points, besting the previous record of 77, also set by Pioneers player Jeff Clement in 1998. Lentsch made 27 of his 55 shots, including 15 three-pointers as Grinnell won

576-881: Was also the last time the team qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament, where it lost by 41 in its first-round matchup.        National champion          Postseason invitational champion          Conference regular season champion          Conference regular season and conference tournament champion        Division regular season champion        Division regular season and conference tournament champion        Conference tournament champion Dave Arseneault David Michael Arseneault (born August 12, 1953)

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