POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Associate Head Coach Dalip Bhatia of the Marist University men's basketball program was named to Silver Waves Media's Top-Mid Major Assistants List on Monday.
 
Bhatia was previously named to Silver Waves Media's List of Top-Mid Major Assistants in January of 2026. In the summer of 2020, Bhatia was ranked #1 in a poll of assistants in the Metro Conference, formerly the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, conducted by Jeff Goodman for WatchStadium.com.
 
Bhatia is recognized as a trailblazer within the college basketball community as the first Division I men's basketball assistant and associate head coach of Indian descent in NCAA history. He is in his ninth season at Marist, and his third as Associate Head Coach. The program has made significant progress during his tenure:
 

• Marist's winning season in 2020-21 was its first in 13 years.
• Marist's conference championship game appearance in 2023 was its first in 31 years.
• Marist's 20-win season in 2024-25 was its fifth in program history, and its first in 18 years.
• In the past three seasons, Marist has an overall record of 57-35 with a 37-23 mark in conference play.
  • This is the best three-year stretch the program has had in 18 years.
  • In this time, Marist has the second-highest total conference wins and third-highest total of overall wins of any team in the Metro Conference (formerly Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
  • Marist has ranked in the nation's top 20 in scoring defense each of the last three years, including fifth-place finishes in 2023-24 and 2025-26. Last year, the Red Foxes were also second in the nation in three-point percentage defense, and they were 20^th in field goal percentage defense.

 
Bhatia's involvement extends to all areas of the program. He leads the Red Foxes' recruiting efforts, non-conference scheduling, and compliance matters. He has a significant role in game planning, advance scouting, and on-the-floor coaching. 
 
"Dalip is an invaluable asset to our staff who is heavily involved in every aspect of our program," Marist Head Coach John Dunne said. "His loyalty and his work ethic are second to none. He has done an outstanding job on the court, on the recruiting trail, and behind the scenes. His contributions have helped our program establish consistent success."
 
The 2026-27 season marks Bhatia's 15^th working under Dunne, including his ninth at Marist. Bhatia previously worked for Dunne at Saint Peter's, where the Peacocks won the conference championship in 2011, and they finished second in the country in field goal percentage defense in consecutive years (2009-10 and 2010-11).
 
From 2013-16, Bhatia worked at his alma mater, Rutgers University, under former NBA head coach Eddie Jordan. He was Director of Basketball Operations from 2013-15, and served as an assistant coach in the 2015-16 season. Bhatia's start in college coaching came at Kean University, where he worked as an assistant coach in the 2007-08 season.