USD Baseball 2001

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USD Director of Athletics Tom Iannacone is in hi s thirteenth year as Director of Ath letics at the Un ivers ity o f San Diego. He was named Director of Athletics on September I, 1988 after holding the same position the previous four yea rs at St. Francis College of Penn sy lvani a. At USO, Iann aco ne direc ts an Athletic Department that includes sixteen NCAA Divi sion I interco ll eg iate varsity teams , eight men ' s and e ight women 's, plu s intramu ra ls and rec reation. In the last twe lve years behind hi s direction and leadership , Torero Ath let ics ha s enjoyed successes both on and off the playing fi eld. Hi s accomplishments at US O inc lude an intern al reorga ni zat ion of the athl etic department, plus improvement s in the major areas of personnel , sc holarship ass istance, facilities, promotions and marketing, fund raising, drug educati on, academ ic support, and a uni ve rsity approved plan for schol arship support and sports sponsorship. In addition , he was instrumental in USO ga ining membership to the Pioneer Football League, which began play in 1993. He has served on the I-AA Athl etic 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– let ic 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 administrators 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– tion ally, The Canyon Field rece ived lighting and a complete renovation for intercollegiate practices and intramural use . Thi s fall the Jenny Craig Pav ilion, a new 5, I00 seat multi-purpose facility, will open and be home for USO basketball and volleyball, and benefit the entire university community. On the playing fi elds, USO has se nt twenty-eight teams to NCAA Tournaments since Iannacone's arrival in the Fall of 1988. Additionally, the school has captured ten conference championships ; twenty- seven NCAA All-Americans; e ightee n CoSIDA/GTE Aca– demic All-Americans; twenty-five conference Coaches of the Year; nineteen conference Players of the Year; and four West Coast Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Besides having the 1999 NCAA National Champion in women's tenni s (Zuzana Lesenarova) , the Torero athletic program came out on top of the WCC sc hool s in terms of overall strength in 1999 (based on an unofficial scorin g 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 universi ty has been the host site for NCAA Tournamen t events for women 's volleyball , men 's and women's soccer, and women' s tenni s. Prior to USO, Iannacone built an impress ive li st of credential s at St.

Francis College as Director of Athl etic s between 1984-87. Hi s major contribu– tion s included the expansion of sports offerings and scho larships for both men and women, improved budgets, renovation of athl etic facilitie s, the hiring of ad– ditional staff, and the establishment of a master plan for the future and continual deve lopmen t of athl etics . He served on severa l committees, most notabl y the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Con ference (ECAC) Infract ions committee and the North east Conference committee on conference development. He served as assistant Direc to r of Athletics at Fordham Uni versity be– tween 1977-84. Along with hi s admini strati ve duties , he was ass istant football coac h for the Rams. Between 1975-78, he ac ted as offensive coordinator and backfield coach as Fordham captured 19 victori es in their fin al 24 games during thi s span. The '77 squ ad was and remain s the hi ghes t scoring team in Fordham hi story, averag ing 34 points per game . In 1983 he was presented the prestigious Jack Coffey Award by the Alumni Assoc iati on for hi s outstanding contributi ons to Fordham athl eti cs . He also se rved on vari ous Metro Atlantic Athletic Confer– ence committees. Prior to Fordham, Iannacone taught physical education and coached track and fi eld, and football in Connecti cut Public School Districts from 1964-76. He made hi s co ll eg iate football coaching debut as an o ffensive backfield coac h at Western Connect icut State Uni ve rsity in 1974 . A 1964 gradu ate of the Uni ver– sity of Connecticut, Iann acone rece ived hi s master o f sc ience degree in physical education from Southern Connecticut State Uni ve rsity in 1973. Tom and hi s wife, Cynthia , have three children: Tom Jr. , Jennifer and Eri c. All three are gradu ates of the Uni versity of San Diego .