USD Men's Basketball 1998-1999

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Page 35 TOM IANNACONE Director of Athletics

Tom Iannacone is in his eleventh year as Director of Ath leti cs at the University of San Diego. He was named Direc tor of Athl eti cs on September 1, 1988 after hold– ing the same pos ition the previous four years at St. Francis Co ll ege of Pennsylvani a. At USO, Iannacone directs an Athl eti c Department that includes sixteen NCAA Division I interco ll eg iate vars ity teams, eight men 's and eight women' s, plus intramurals and recreation. In the last ten yea rs behind hi s direction and leadership, Torero Athl eti cs has enjoyed successes both on and off the playing fi eld . His accomp li shments at USO include an internal reorgani za tion of the athl eti c department, plus improvements in the major areas of personnel, scholarship assistan ce, faci lities, promotions and mar– keting, fund raising, drug education, academic support, and a university approved plan for stholarship support and sports sponsorship. In add ition, he was instrumental in USO ga ining membership to the Pioneer Football League, whi ch began play in 1993. He is a member of the I-AA Athl eti c Directors Association Executive Comm it– tee; and is past Chai rman of the West Coast Conference Athleti cs Directors Commit– tee. During lannacone's tenure, fac ilities at the USD Sports Center, along with all athl eti c fields, have seen vast improvements. Improvements at the Sports Center include complete renovations of both the north and south w ings that added offices fo r administrators and coaches; add itiona l locker rooms for women's basketball , vol–

leyba ll and women 's soccer; an athl etic department conference room; and an academi c support room. Torero Stadium, where footba ll, men's and women's soccer compete, was widened to accommodate soccer, and added a state-of-the-art lighting system and scoreboard. The Softba ll Comp lex has benefitted with a scoreboard, new dugouts and batting cages. Addit ionall y, The Canyon Fi eld received li ghting for interco ll egiate practi ces and intramura l use. The university is currently in its second yea r of its Capital Campa ign for th e Jenn y Craig Pavi lion, a new 5, 000 seat multi-purpose fac ility that w ill be home for USO basketba ll and vo lleyball , and benefit the entire universi ty commu ni ty. On the pl aying fi elds, USO has sent twenty-one teams to NCAATournaments since lannacone's arrival in the Fall of 1988. Additi onally, the schoo l has ca ptured six conference champ ionships; twenty NCAA All-Ameri ca ns; fifteen CoS IDNGTE Aca –

demi c Al l-America ns; sixteen conference Coaches of the Yea r; ten confer– ence Players of the Yea r; and three West Coast Conference Scho lar-Ath– letes of the Yea r. Since '88 the univers ity has been the host site for NCAA Tournament even ts for women 's vo ll eybal l, men's soccer and women's tennis. Pri or to USO, Ian nacone built an impressive li st of creden ti als at St. Fra ncis Co llege as Director of Athl eti cs between 1984-87. His major contributions incl uded the expansion of sports offeri ngs and scho larships for both men and women, improved budgets, renovati on of athl etic fac ili– ties, the hiring of add itional staff, and the establishment of a master plan for the fu tu re and continual deve lopment of athl etics. He served on sev– eral committees, most notably the Eastern Co llegiate Ath letic Conference (ECAC) Infracti ons committee and the Northeast Conference committee on conference development. He served as assista nt Director of Ath leti cs at Fordham University between 1977-84. Along wi th his adm ini strative duties, he was assista nt footba ll coac h for the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as offensive coordinator and backfield coac h as Fordham captured 19 victories in thei r final 24 games dur ing this span. The '77 squad was and rema ins the high– est scoring team in Fordham history, averaging 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the prestigious Jack Coffey Awa rd by the A lumni Assoc iation for his outstanding contributions to Fordham ath letics. He also served on various Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference committees. Prior to Fordham, Iannacone taught physica l education and coac hed track and fie ld, and footba ll in Connec ti cut Pub lic Schoo l Districts from 1964-76. He made his co llegiate footbal l coaching debut as an offensive backfield coach at Western Connecticu t State Un ivers ity in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the Univers ity of Connecticut, Iannacone rece ived his master of science degree in physi ca l education from Southern Connec ti cut State Uni vers ity in 1973. Tom and hi s w ife, Cynthi a, have three children : Tom Jr., Jennifer and Eri c. Al l three are gradua tes of the University of San Diego.