Rollie Massimino
Rollie Massimino (1934-2017)
Teams coached: Stony Brook Patriots, Villanova Wildcats, UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, Cleveland State Vikings
Stony Brook record^: 34-14 (.708)
Villanova record: 355-241 (.596)
UNLV record: 36-21 (.632)
Cleveland State record: 90-113 (.443)
Overall record^: 816-462 (.000)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 1 (1985)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 11 (1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 5 (1978, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1 (1985)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 4 (1977, 1989, 1992, 1993)
- Big East Regular Season Champion: 2 (1982, 1983)
- Atlantic 10 Regular Season Champion: 3 (1978, 1979, 1980)
- Knickerbocker (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 1 (1970)
- Florida Sun (NAIA) Regular Season Champion: 5 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016)
- Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion: 2 (1978, 1980)
- Florida Sun (NAIA) Tournament Champion: 3 (2012, 2013, 2014)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 1 (1970)
- NAIA Division II Tournament Appearances: 9 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016)
- NAIA Division II Tournament Final Four: 2 (2011, 2012)
Awards:
- Big East Coach of the Year: 1 (1982)
- Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: 2 (1977, 1979)
- NABC Golden Anniversary Award (2012)
- NABC NAIA Coach of the Year: 1 (2011)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2013)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2006-2017 | Northwood/Keiser |
| 1996-2003 | Cleveland State |
| 1992-1994 | UNLV |
| 1973-1992 | Villanova |
| 1972-1973 | Penn (asst) |
| 1969-1971 | Stony Brook |
Rollie Massimino Facts
- Roland Vincent Massimino
- Born November 13, 1934
- Died August 30, 2017
- Hometown: Hillsdale, New Jersey
- Alma Mater: University of Vermont (BA, 1956) / Rutgers University (MA, 1959)
- Started coaching right after graduating from UVM at the high school level
- Went 160-61 in ten seasons as a high school coach with stints at Lexington HS (MA) and his alma mater, Hillsdale HS (NJ)
- Hired in 1969 to be the head coach at Stony Brook, then a member of the NCAA College Division (Division II)
- Spent one year as an assistant at Penn under Chuck Daly before getting the Villanova head coaching job in 1973
- Coached the Villanova Wildcats for 19 seasons, starting as a Division I independent, then transitioning to the ECBL/EAA (now Atlantic 10) to becoming one of the original members of the Big East
- In 1985, the 8-seed Wildcats met fellow Big East member Georgetown – top-seeded, heavily favored and led by future HOF player Patrick Ewing – in the NCAA National Championship game and rallied for an upset victory and national title
- Offered head coach job with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets following the victory but turned it down to stay at Nova
- Left the school in 1992 with 355 wins, two Big East titles and 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament
- Became head coach at UNLV in 1992 with the intention of cleaning up the mess left behind after the departure of former coach Jerry Tarkanian
- Forced out after two seasons following the revelation that the school’s president, Robert Maxson, had a side deal in place to pay Massimino more than his state-approved salary
- After a few years away from coaching, Massimino was hired as the head coach at Cleveland State
- Won 90 games in seven seasons at CSU but was never able to lead the Vikings into the postseason; resigned in 2003
- Spent the last eleven years of his life as the head coach at NAIA Northwood (later becoming a part of Keiser University), compiling an overall record of 298-75 and leading the Seahawks to the NAIA Division II Tournament nine times
- The Seahawks were NAIA Division II Tournament runner-up in 2012
- Won his 800th career game on December 14, 2016 with a victory over Trinity Baptist
- Passed away in 2017 after a battle with lung cancer; survived by his wife, Mary Jane, their five children and 17 grandchildren
Rollie Massimino Coaching Tree
- Tom Brennan (Vermont, Yale)
- Mitch Buonaguro (Siena, Fairfield)
- Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State, Youngstown State, Fairmont State)
- Jim Casciano (UMPI, NJIT, King’s PA, Saint Michael’s, Castleton State)
- Paul Cormier (Dartmouth, Fairfield)
- Mike Fratello (Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks)
- Pete Gillen (Virginia, Providence, Xavier)
- Steve Lappas (UMass, Villanova, Manhattan)
- Craig Littlepage (Rutgers, Penn)
- Marty Marbach (Canisius)
- John Olive (Loyola Marymount)
- Tom Pecora (Fordham, Hofstra)
- Frank Sullivan (Harvard, Bentley)
- Jay Wright (Villanova, Hofstra)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I, Division II and NAIA levels only; note that Stony Brook was a Division II program until 1994