USD Women's Basketball 1999-2000

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TOM IANNACONE Direetor Of Athleties

Tom Iannacone is in hi s twelvth year as Director o f Athletics at the University of San Diego. He was named Director of Athl eti cs on September I, 1988 after holding the same pos iti on the prev ious fo ur years at St. Francis Coll ege of Pennsy lvani a. At USO, Iannacone directs an Athl etic Department th at includes sixteen NCAA Di vision I interco ll eg iate vars ity teams, eight men's and eight women's, plus intramu rals and recreati on. In the last e leven years behind hi s direction and leadership, Torero Athl etics has enj oyed successes both on and off the pl ay ing fi eld. His accompli shments at USO include an internal reorgani zation of the athl etic department, plus improvements in th e maj or areas of personne l, scho larship ass istance, fac ilities, promoti ons and marketing, fund ra is– ing, drug education, academic support, and a uni versity approved pl an for scho larship support and sports sponsors hip. In additi on, he was instrumental in USO ga ining mem– bership to the Pi oneer Football League, which began pl ay in 1993 . He has served on the I– AA Athl eti c Directors Assoc iati on Executi ve Committee; and is past Chairman of the West Coast Conference Athl etics Directors Committee.

During Iannacone 's tenure, fac ilities at the USO Sports Center, along with all athl etic fi elds, have seen vast improvements. Improvements at the Sports Center include compl ete renovati ons of both the north and south wings that added o ffices fo r admini strators and coaches; additi onal loc ker rooms for women's bas ketball , vo lley ball and women's soccer; an athl etic department conference room; and an academi c support room. Torero Stad ium , 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 Softball Complex has benefitted with a new dugouts, scoreboard, batting cages and additional seating. Add itionall y, The Canyon Fie ld received li ghting and a compl ete renovati on fo r interco ll egiate practices and intramu ral use. This past spring ground bro ke on the Jenn y Cra ig Pav ili on, a new 5,000 seat multi -purpose facility that wi ll be home fo r USO basketball and volley ball , and bene fit the entire uni versity community. On the pl ay ing fi elds, USO has sent twenty-four teams to NCAA Tournaments since lannacone's arri val in the Fall o f 1988 . Addi tionall y, the schoo l has captured e ight conference champi onships; twenty-three NCAA All-Ameri cans; seventeen CoSIDA/GTE Academi c All-Ameri cans; nineteen conference Coaches of the Year; fifteen confe rence Pl ayers o f the Year; and three West Coast Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Bes ides having the 1999 NCAA Nati onal Champi on in women's tenni s (Zuzana Lesenarova), the Torero athl eti c program came out on top of the WCC schoo ls in terms of overa ll strength in 1999 (based on an unofficial scoring

system produced by USO each season . For the first time, the 1998-99 combined men' s and women's athl etics programs at USO ranked first in the standings . S ince 1988 the uni versity has been the host site fo r NCAA Tourn ament events fo r women's voll ey ball , men's soccer and women's tenni s. Pri or to USO, Iannacone built an impress ive li st of credenti als at St. Francis Coll ege as Director o f Athletics between 1984-87. Hi s maj or con tribu– tions inc luded the expansion o f sports offerings and scho larships fo r both men and women, improved budgets, renovati on o f athl eti c fac ilities, the hiring o f add iti onal sta ff, and the es tabli shment of a master pl an fo r the future and con– tin ual development o f athletics. He served on several committees, most notabl y the Easte rn Co ll egiate Athl eti c Confe rence (ECAC) Infracti ons commi ttee and the Northeast Confe re nce committee on confe rence deve lopment. He served as ass istant Director of Athl etics at Fordham Uni versity be– tween 1977-84. Along with hi s admini strative duti es, he was assistant footba ll coach fo r the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as o ffensive coordinator and backfie ld coach as Fo rdham captured 19 victori es in their fin al 24 games during thi s span. The ' 77 squ ad was and remains the hi ghest scoring team in Fordham hi story, averag ing 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the presti g ious Jac k Coffey Award by the Alumni Associ ati on for hi s outstanding contributions to Fordham athl etics . He also served on vari ous Metro Atl anti c Athl etic Confer– ence committees. Pri or to Fordham, Iann acone taught phys ica l educati on and coached track and fi eld, and foo tball in Connecticut Public Schoo l Di stri cts from I964- 76. He made hi s co ll egiate football coaching debut as an o ffensive backfie ld coach at Western Connec ti cut State Uni versity in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the Uni versity of Connecticut , Iannacone received hi s master o f sc ience degree in phys ical educati on from Southern Connecti cut State Uni versity in 1973 . Tom and hi s wife, Cynthia, have three children: Tom Jr. , Jennifer and Eric. All three are gradu ates o f the Uni versity o f San Diego.

" FREE THROWS WIN GAMES. " - ROLLIE MARPE