Head Coach, Northwood University Men’s Basketball; 1985 NCAA Champion, Villanova University (Deceased) – Tequesta, Florida
Long recognized as one of college basketball’s premiere coaches and motivators, Rollie Massimino has compiled an impressive list of coaching accolades.
Inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, he has been recognized as Coach of the year for various league conferences during his career, including Big East Coach of the Year, Eastern Coach of the Year, The Sun Conference Coach of the Year and also the NAIA Coach of the Year. In addition, Coach Massimino was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Hall of Fame in 2012.
His coaching career began in 1956 after graduation from the University of Vermont where he played varsity basketball for three years (and in 1983 was admitted into Vermont’s Athletic Hall of Fame.) All told, Massimino coached on the high school level for 11 seasons and logged a sparkling 160-61 record.
He made his collegiate head coaching debut in 1969 at State University of New York (SUNY) – Stony Brook (Long Island, NY). In just his first season, he led his team to a 19-6 record, a conference championship, and to a berth in the NCAA small college national tournament.
In 1971, he left SUNY to work under the legendary Chuck Daly at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant coach. During his two seasons at Penn, the Quakers compiled a 46-10 record, won two Ivy League titles, two Philadelphia Big 5 Championships, and finished ranked number five and number two, respectively, in the NCAA Final team defensive statistics.
In 1973 as head coach at Villanova, Massimino began his team’s reconstruction relying on long days, hard work, and belief in his “family” atmosphere. Two seasons later he led the Wildcats back on the winning trail and they never looked back. He reached the pinnacle of collegiate coaching on April 1, 1985 when his Wildcats recorded one of the most stunning upsets ever in a NCAA tournament championship game by upending Georgetown 66-64.
In 2006, Massimino started the Northwood University Florida program from scratch, and has transformed Seahawks basketball into a national powerhouse in the NAIA. He has compiled an outstanding record of 227 wins and 49 losses (.822%), with eight consecutive trips to the NAIA National tournament, in the program’s short history.
On December 29th, 2012, Coach Massimino became the 39th coach to record 700 career wins, and became just the third active coach in college basketball history to reach the 700-win plateau and win an NCAA National Championship during their coaching career, joining Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and Duke’s Mike Kryzewski.
Noted for his “Family Style” coaching, Massimino motivates his players with the message that reflects his own view of life – “Enthusiasm is Contagious!”
*All biographical information is only current up to the date of the award.
