• 2022-23 Jim Phelan Northeast Conference Coach of the Year

Chris Kraus, Stonehill College Class of 2006 and a native of Toronto, Ontario, was named the 14^th head coach of the Stonehill men’s basketball program in July, 2013. He is the first alumnus to direct the Skyhawks and is the first Canadian-born coach to take the helm of an NCAA men’s basketball program. In his time at Stonehill as a student-athlete, assistant coach and now the third-longest tenured head coach in program history, Kraus has played a role in 24-percent (464 of 1,927 games) of the program's contests as it enters its 75th Anniversary season in 2023-24.

Kraus, who is the lone Canadian head coach at the NCAA Division I level as Stonehill continues its transition as a member of the Northeast Conference, has maintained Stonehill’s winning tradition over his tenure, leading his alma mater to a 144-116 (.554) record, including a 97-83 (.539) clip in Conference play. The Skyhawks made a splash in its first NEC season, posting a 10-6 record to finish tied for second in the final regular season standings, earning Kraus the Jim Phelan NEC Coach of the Year Award. Previously, he led Stonehill to an 87-77 (.??) clip in the highly competitive Northeast-10 Conference, with three NCAA Division II Tournament bids. The Skyhawks captured their third NCAA East Regional Championship in program history in 2016, advancing to the Elite Eight for the third time in the last ten years.

Kraus, in fact, is a tie between all three Elite Eight appearances in Stonehill history, guiding the Skyhawks as a senior point guard in 2006, as an assistant coach under current Dartmouth College mentor David McLaughlin in 2012 and then full circle as a head coach in 2016. He is the first coach in NCAA Division II East Region history to guide a program to a regional title as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach.

Kraus’ student-athletes have earned 16 Conference honors with both the Northeast Conference and Northeast-10 Conference, including Will Moreton, ‘20, a three-time All-NE10 selection, who was named the NE10 Player of the Year following the 2019-20 season. Ryan Logan ‘17, the 2013-14 NE10 Rookie of the Year, was also a three-time All-NE10 selection, earning first team honors as a junior and senior, and is the first student-athlete under Kraus to collect NABC All-District honors with second team honors as  junior and senior. Moreton added NABC All-District first team and D2ADA All-East Region first team honors during his senior year, when he became the program's first All-American in 22 seasons with his spot on the Division II Bulletin fourth team in 2020.

Three Stonehill student-athletes collected All-NEC honors in its first Division I season, with fifth-year Andrew Sims, '23 earning a spot on the first team and was also named to the NABC All-District second team, while Isaiah Burnett, '23 was selected to the second team and postgrad Max Zegarowski collected third team accolades and also earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators (CSC).

Zegarowksi is among four student-athletes to earn CSC Academic All-District honors under Kraus' leadership, with three also being named to the NEC Academic All-Conference team.

Kraus has regularly seen his graduates go on to enjoy professional careers overseas, with Logan now playing in Sweden and Moreton in Spain, the most notable.

Stonehill posted a 19-10 overall record in 2014-15, finishing tied for second in the NE10 Northeast Division standings with a 14-7 mark in Conference play. While the Skyhawks fell to eventual NE10 Tournament champions American International College in the quarterfinal round, Kraus guided the program to its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since reaching the National Semifinals in 2012.

That season spurred Stonehill entering the 2015-16 campaign that would see the Skyhawks post a 24-9 record overall, including 15-6 in the highly competitive NE10 Northeast Division that would send four teams to the NCAA Tournament. It was the NCAA East Regional in Philadelphia, where the Skyhawks hit their stride, led by senior point guard and future assistant coach Carter Smith, ’16 who earned Regional Most Outstanding Player honors. Stonehill won its third regional championship in program history, and a spot in the NCAA II Elite Eight in Frisco, Texas, with a pair of thrilling overtime wins as the Skyhawks knocked off three NE10 divisional rivals on their way to the regional title.

Stonehill has enjoyed a winning season in six of the nine seasons Kraus has been in charge. The Skyhawks posted an 18-11 mark, including 13-6 in the NE10 to finish second in the division, reaching the semifinal round of the NE10 Tournament. Stonehill was again poised for a strong NCAA East Regional run, before the Skyhawks’ 15^th NCAA Tournament bid was halted before the regional started by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kraus earned his first career win with a 75-58 triumph over Georgian Court University in his debut as head coach and picked up his first NE10 victory with a 61-56 decision over Assumption College on December 4, 2013. He reached the 100-win plateau with the Skyhawks 78-70 win over Saint Michael's College on November 23, 2019.

Kraus took over the helm at Stonehill after serving as former head coach David McLaughlin’s top assistant coach for three seasons. Stonehill averaged 20 wins over those three years, reaching the NCAA Tournament twice, including the 2011-12 season when the Skyhawks posted 25 wins and captured both the NE10 Tournament and NCAA Division II East Regional crown on its way to the national semifinal round at the Elite Eight.

As a student-athlete within the program from 2002-2006, Kraus was a member of the 2005-06 squad that won a program-record 27 games and earned the program’s first regional championship and trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, Massachusetts. Along with the team’s national semifinal round run during his senior season, Kraus earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors, was named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team and with his play was amongst the nation’s leaders in a number of statistical categories. He trained with the Canadian Senior Men’s National Team from 2002-2005, and won a silver medal playing for Canada at the World Junior Championships in France in 1999.

After graduating from Stonehill in 2006, Kraus played professionally in England for London United before returning home to begin his coaching career. He was an assistant at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he assisted the team in capturing the AUS Conference championship and a berth in the national tournament. He then spent two seasons as the top assistant at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, helping the team earn back-to-back GPAC conference titles.

In addition to his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Stonehill, Kraus was admitted to the Faculty of Education program at Brandon University and earned his Master’s Degree in athletic administration from Endicott College in 2012.

Kraus and his wife, Ashley, also a 2006 Stonehill graduate and former women’s tennis student-athlete, reside in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with son, Tanner (5), and daughter, Josephine (3).