USD Men's Basketball 2000-2001

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

I

TOM IANNACONE Director ofAthletics

Tom Iannacone begins his thirteenth 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 USO, Iannacone directs an Athletic Department that includes sixteen NCAA Division I intercollegiate varsity teams, eight men's and eight women's, plus intramural s and recreation. In the last twelve years behind his direction and leadership, Torero Ath letics has enj oyed successes both on and off the playing field . His accomplishments at USO include an internal reorgani zation of the athletic department, plus improvements in the major areas of personnel , schol arship assistance, facilities, promotions and marketing, fund raising, drug education , academic support, and a universi ty approved plan for scholarship support and sports sponsorship. In addition , he was instrumental in USO gaining membership to the Pioneer Football League, which began play in 1993. He has served on the I-AA Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee; and is past Chairman of the West Coast Con– ference Athletics Directors Committee. During Iannacone's tenure, facilities at the USO Sports Center, along with all ath– letic fields , have seen vast improvements. Improvements at the Sports Center include complete renovation s of both the north and south wings that added offices for administra– tors 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 Softball Complex has benefitted with new dugouts, scoreboard, batting cages and additional seating. Addi– tionall y, The Canyon Field rece ived lighting and a complete renov ation for intercollegiate practices and intramural use. This fall the Jenny Craig Pav ilion, a new 5, I00 seat multi-purpose fac ility, will open and be home for USO basketball and volleyball, and benefit the entire university community. On the playing fields , USO has sent twenty-eight teams to NCAA Tournaments since Iannacone's arrival in the Fall of 1988. Additional ly, the school has captured ten conference championships; twenty-seven NCAA All-Americans; eighteen CoSIDA/GTE Aca– demic All -Americans; twenty-five conference Coaches of the Year; nineteen conference Players of the Year; and four West Coast Confer–

ence Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Bes ides hav ing the 1999 NCAA National Champion in women's tennis (Zuzana Lesenarova), the Torero athl etic pro– gram came out on top of the WCC schools in terms of overall strength in 1999 (based on an unofficial scori ng system produced by USO each season. For the firs t time, the 1998-99 combined men's and women 's athletics programs at USO ranked first in the standings. Since 1988 the university has been the host site fo r NCAA Tournament events for women's volleyball. men's and women's soccer, and women 's tennis. Prior to USO, Iannacone built an impress ive li st of credentials at St. Francis College as Director of Ath letics between 1984-87. His major contri– bu tions included the expansion of sports offerings and scholarships for both men and women, improved budgets, renovation of athletic fac ilities, the hiring of additiona l staff, and the establi shment of a master plan for the future and contin ual development of athletics. He served on several commi ttees , most notably the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Infractions com– mittee and the Northeast Conference committee on conference development. He served as assistant Director of Athletics at Fordham Uni versity between 1977-84. Along with hi s admi ni strati ve duties, he was assistant foot– ball coach for the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as offensive coordinator and backfi eld coach as Fordham captured 19 victories in their final 24 games during this span. The '77 squad was and remains the highest scoring team in Fordham hi story, averaging 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the prestig ious Jack Coffey Award by the Alumni Assoc iation for his outstanding contributions to Fordham athl etics. He also served on various Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference committees. Prior to Fordham, Ian nacone taught physical education and coached trac k and field , and football in Connecticut Public School Districts from I964- 76. He made hi s co ll egiate footba ll coach ing debut as an offensive backfield coach at Western Connecticut State Uni versi ty in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Iannacone received hi s master of science de– gree in physical education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1973. Tom and his wife , Cynthi a, have three children: Tom Jr. , Jennifer and Eric. Al l three are graduates of the Univers ity of San Diego.