USD Football 2002

Director ofAthletics

40 TOM IANNACONE Director Of Athletics

Tom Iannacone begi ns hi s fifteenth year as Director of Athletics at the Uni versity of San Diego. He was named Director of Athletics on September I, 1988 after holding the same positi on the prev ious fo ur years at St. Francis Co llege of Pennsy lvania. At USO, Iann acone directs an Athletic Department that includes sixteen NCAA Di vision I intercollegiate varsity teams, eight men' s and e ight women's, plus intramu rals and recreati on. In the last fourteen years behind hi s direction and leadership, Torero Athl eti cs has enj oyed successes both on and off the pl ay ing fie ld. Hi s accompli shments at USO inc lude improvements in the major areas of personnel, scholarship assistance, fac ili ties, promotions and marketing, fund raising, drug education, academic support, and a uni versity approved plan for scholarship support and sports sponsorship. In addition, he was instrumental in USO gaining membership to the Pi oneer Football League, which began pl ay in 1993 . He has served on the I– AA Athl etic Di rectors Associati on Executi ve Committee; and is past Chairman of the West Coast Conference Athletics Directors Committee.

During Iannacone' s tenure, all athl eti c fac ilities have seen vast improvements. The Jenny Craig Pavilion, USD's 5, I00-seat multi -purpose fac ili ty , opened its doors in 2000 and is now home fo r USO bas ketball and volleyball , along with benefiting the entire uni versity community. Torero Stadium, where football , and men' s and women' s soccer compete, is also home to the WUSA San Diego Spirit, has also benefi ted with expanded seating to 6,000, new lighting and sound system, new video scoreboard, additional press box fac ilities, and a recently widened pl ay ing fi e ld with new grass turf. Improvements at the Sports Center include complete renovati ons of both the north and south wings that added offices fo r admini strators and coaches; additi onal women's locker rooms; an athletic department conference room; and an academi c support room. The gymnasium received new lighting and scoreboards, a new dance fl oor and workout area for rowing machines. Recent improvements at the Sports Center include a new main entrance, a complete renovati on of the weight room, and perimeter fencing around the pool along with a scoreboard. Thi s past year both Cunningham Baseball Stadium and the Softball Complex were under demolition and reconstruction , and benefited with new fi elds. Baseball rece ived new batting cages, whil e softball benefited with a new scoreboard and expanded seating. Additionall y, the Canyon Field rece ived li ghting and a complete renovation fo r intercolleg iate practices and intramural use with a new artificical turf surface. On the pl ay ing fi e lds, USO has sent thirty-four teams to NCAA Tournaments since Iannacone's arri val in the Fall of 1988. Additionally, the schoo l has captured thirteen conference championships; thirty-one NCAA All-Americans; eighteen CoSIDA/GTE Academic All–

Americans; twenty-e ight conference Coaches of the Year; twenty-two conference Players of the Year; and four West Coast Conference Schol ar-Athletes of the Year. Besides having the 1999 NCAA National Champion in women's tenni s (Zuzana Lesenarova), the Torero athl etic program came out on top of the WCC schoo ls in terms of overall strength in 1999 (based on an unoffici al scoring system produced by USO each season). For the first time, the 1998-99 combined men's and women's athletics programs at USO ranked first in the standings. Since 1988 the uni versity has been the host site for NCAA Tournament events fo r women's volleyball , men's and women's soccer, and women's tenni s. Thi s past two years USO has hosted the WCC Basketball Champi onships, and will do so again in 2003. Pri or to USO, Iannacone built an impress ive li st of credenti als at St. Francis Co llege as Director of Athleti cs between 1984-87. Hi s maj or contributions included the expansion of sports offerings and scholarships fo r both men and women, improved budgets, renovati on of athl etic fac ilities, the hiring of additional staff, and the establi shment of a master plan for the fu ture and continual deve lopment of athletics. He served on several commi ttees , most notably the Eastern Collegiate Athl etic Conference (ECAC) Infrac tions commi ttee and the Northeast Conference committee on conference development. He served as assistant Di rector of Athl etics at Fordh am Uni versity between 1977-84. Along with hi s admini strati ve duties, he was ass istant football coach fo r the Rams. Between 1975-78, he acted as offensive coordinator and backfie ld coach as Fordham captured 19 victori es in the ir fin a l 24 games during thi s span. The '77 squad was and remains the hi ghest scoring team in Fordham hi story, averaging 34 points per game. In 1983 he was presented the presti gious Jack Coffey Award by the Alumni Assoc iati on fo r hi s outstanding contributi ons to Fordham athletics. He also served on various Metro Atlantic Athletic Confe rence committees. Pri or to Fordham, Iannacone taught physical education and coached track and fi eld, and football in Connecticut Public School Distri cts from 1964-76. He made hi s collegiate foo tball coaching debut as an offensive backfield coach at Western Con– necticut State Uni versity in 1974. A 1964 graduate of the Uni vers ity of Connecticut, Iannacone received hi s master of sc ience degree in physical educati on from Southern Connecti cut State Uni versity in 1973 . Tom and hi s wife, Cynthi a, have three children: Tom Jr. , Jennifer and Eri c. All three are graduates of the Uni versity of San Diego.