USD Men's Basketball 1997-1998

Page 35 TOM IANNACONE Director of Athletics

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Tom Iannacone is in his tenth year as Director of Athl eti cs at the University of San Diego. He was named Director of Athletics on September 1, 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 Divi sion I interco ll eg iate varsity teams, eight men 's and eight women's, plus intramurals and recreati on. In the last nine years behind his direction and leadership, Torero Ath letics has enjoyed successes both on and off the playing fi eld . Hi s accomplishments at USD include an internal reorganization of the athl eti c department, plus improve– ments in the major areas of personnel, scholarship ass istance, facilities, promotions and marketing, fund raising, drug education, academi c support, and a universi ty approved plan for scholarship support and sports sponsorship . In addition, he was instrumental in USD gai ning membership to the Pioneer Football League, which began play in 1993. He is a member of the I-AA Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee; and is past Chai rman of the West Coast Conference Athletics Directors Committee. During lannacone's tenure, faci lities at the USD Sports Center, along with all athleti c fields, have seen vast improvements. Improvements at the Sports Center include complete renovati ons of both the north and south wings that added offices fo r administrators and coaches; additional locker rooms for women 's basketball,

volleyball and women's soccer; an athl etic department conference room; and an academic support room. Torero Stadium, where footba ll, men's and women 's soccer compete, was w idened to accommodate soccer, and added a state-of-the-art lighting system and scoreboard. The Softball Compl ex has benefitted with a scoreboard, new dugouts and batting cages. Additiona lly, The Canyon Field received lighting fo r intercollegiate practices and in tramura l use. Thi s past fall the university began its Cap ital Campaign fo r the Jenny Craig Pavilion, a new 5,000 seat multi-purpose faci lity that wi ll be home for USD basketball and volleybal l, and benefi t the entire university commun ity. On the playing fields, USD has sent nineteen teams to NCAA Tournaments since lannacone's arrival in the Fall of 1988. Additi onally, the school has captured five conference championships; nineteen NCAA A ll -Americans; fifteen CoSIDNGTE Aca–

demic All-Americans; eleven conference Coaches of the Year; ten confer– ence Pl ayers of the Year; and three West Coast Conference Scholar-Ath– letes of the Year. Since '88 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 bui lt an impressive list of credentials at St. Francis College as Director of Athletics between 1984-87. His major contributions included the expansion of sports offerings and scho larships fo r both men and women, improved budgets, renovation of ath letic fac ili– ties, the hiring of additional staff, and the establishment of a master plan fo r the futu re and continual development of athletics. He served on sev– era l 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 Ath letics at Fordham University between 1977-84. Along with his admin istrative duties, he was assistant football coach for the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as offensive coordinator and backfield coach as Fordham captured 19 victories in their final 24 games during th is span. The '77 squad was and remains the highest scoring team in Fordham history, averaging 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the prestigious Jack Coffey Award by the Alumni Association fo r his outstanding contributions to Fordham athletics. He also served on various Metro Atl antic Athletic Conference committees. Prior to Fordham, Iannacone taught physica l educati on and coached track and field, and footba ll in Connecticut Pub lic School D is– tricts from 1964-76. He made his coll egiate footba ll coaching debut as an offensive backfield coach at Western Connecticut State University in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the University of Con necticut, Iannacone re– ceived his master of science degree in physical education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1973. Tom and his wife, Cynthia, have three children: Tom Jr., Jennifer and Eric. All three are graduates of the University of San D iego.