USD Women's Basketball 2001-2002

18

ZfJfJl-ZfJfJZ lo1ae1a" 1J1:.,het&all TOM IANNACONE Director Of Athletics

Tom Iannacone is in hi s fourteenth year as Director of Athletics at the University of San Diego. He was named Director of Athletics on September I, 1988 after holding the same position the previous four years at St. Francis College of Pennsylvania. At USD, Iannacone directs an Athletic Department that includes sixteen NCAA Division I intercollegiate varsity teams, eight men's and eight women's, plus intramurals and recreation . In the last thirteen years behind hi s direction and leadership, Torero Athletics has enjoyed successes both on and off the playing field. His accomplishments at USD include an internal reorganization of the athletic department, plus improvements in the major areas of personnel , scholarship ass istance, fac ilities, promotions and marketing, fund rai sing, drug education, academic support, and a university approved plan for scholarship support and sports sponsorship. In addition , he was instrumental in USD gaining membership to the Pioneer Football League, which began play in 1993. He has served on the I-AA Ath– letic Directors Association Executive Committee; and is past Chairn1an of the West Coast

Conference Athletics Directors Committee. During lannacone 's tenure, facilities at the USD Sports Center, along with all athletic field s, have seen vast improvements. In October of 2000, the Jenny Craig Pavilion opened, a new 5, I00 seat multi-purpose facility which is now home to USD basketball and volleyball, and will benefit the entire university community. Improvements at the Sports Center include complete renovations of both the north and south wings that added offices for administrators and coaches; additional locker rooms for women 's basketball, volleyball and women's soccer; an athletic department conference room; and an academic support room. Torero Stadium, where football , men's and women's soccer compete, was widened to accommodate soccer, and added a state-of-the-art lighting system and scoreboard. The Soft– ball Complex has benefitted with a new dugouts, scoreboard, batting cages and additional seating. Additionally, The Canyon Field received lighting and a complete renovation for intercollegiate practices and intramural use. On the playing fields , USD has sent thirty teams to NCAA Tournaments since Iannacone's arrival in the Fall of 1988. Addition– ally, the school has captured ten conference championships; twenty-eight NCAA All-Americans; eighteen CoSIDA/GTE Academic All – Americans; twenty-five conference Coaches of the Year; nineteen conference Players of the Year; and four West Coast Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Besides having the 1999 NCAA National Champion in women's tennis (Zuzana Lesenarova), the Torero

athletic program came out on top of the WCC schools in terms of overall strength in 1999 (based on an unofficial scoring system produced by USD each season). For the first time, the 1998-99 combined men's and women's athletics programs at USD ranked first in the standings. Since 1988 the university has been the host site for NCAA Tournament events for women 's volleyball , men 's soccer and women's tennis. Prior to USD, Iannacone built an impressive list of credentials at St. Francis College as Director of Athletics between 1984-87 . His major contribu– tions included the expansion of sports offerings and scholarships for both men and women, improved budgets, renovation of athletic facilities , the hiring of ad– ditional staff, and the establishment of a master plan for the future and continual development of athletics. He served on several committees, most notably the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Infractions committee and the Northeast Conference committee on conference development. He served as assistant Director of Athl etics at Fordham University be– tween 1977-84. Along with hi s admini strati ve duties, he was assistant football coach for the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as offens ive coordinator and bac kfi eld coach as Fordham captured 19 victories in thei r fi nal 24 games during thi s span. The ' 77 squad was and remains the hi ghest scori ng team in Fordham history, averag ing 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the presti gious Jack Coffey Award by the Alumni Assoc iation for his outstand ing contributions to Fordham athl eti cs. He also served on vari ous Metro Atl antic Athleti c Confer– ence committees. Prior to Fordham, Iannacone taught phys ica l education and coached track and field , and fo otba ll in Connecti cut Publ ic Schoo l Di stri cts from 1964-76. He made hi s co ll eg iate football coaching debut as an offensive backfie ld coach at Western Connecticut State University in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Iannacone received hi s master of sc ience degree in phys ica l edu– cation from Southern Connecticut State University in 1973 . Tom and hi s wife, Cynthia, have three children : Tom Jr. , Jennifer and Eric. All three are graduates of the University of San Diego.