Why not Seton Hall?
By Colin Rajala
Trove sports correspondent
Returning to coach at his alma mater, Anthony Bozzella inherited a women’s basketball program that had little to no expectations for success, but he was determined to resurrect the program to a level where it was competitive in the Big East and had an opportunity to contend for conference championships year in and year out.
Little did he know that he would achieve that in just his second season, coaching his squad to the most wins in program history with a 28-6 overall record, including 15-3 in conference. That was good enough to finish the regular season as Co-BIG EAST Champions and the number one seed in the league's tournament, both first time accomplishments.
The Pirates eventually advanced to the conference championship game and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, an achievement last seen in 1995.
Bozzella showing the passion that has made him so successful at his alma mater
“This year we established ourselves – we said to everyone Seton Hall is not a doormat anymore, we can play and we’re as good as everyone else,” Bozzella said. “We had a surreal season in some ways, securing the 4th longest winning streak in the nation, jumping out of the gate to a 15-2 record and pushing that to 21-3, winning senior day on a layup at the buzzer, and going down nine to Butler with one minute to go and then winning by nine. All of the credit goes to the kids, our fans and the great support we got at Walsh. I have to give special props to the seniors for sticking with it, I was their third head coach during their collegiate careers. They were a tough group, they stuck with it and they never gave up. Our staff pushed them hard and they responded.”
As the Pirates enter the 2015/16 season looking to build upon the success they had last year, they will have a different look internally as the program loses lead assistant Stephanie Oliver who moves on to nearby Long Island University - Brooklyn as that school's head coach following in the footsteps of Tony Bozzella who led the Blackbird's women's program for two years culminating in two conference championship games and the school's only NCAA berth in 2000.
“I still have a lot of friends over at LIU so after I heard about the coaching position opening up Steph and I talked and I thought it would be a great opportunity for her,” Bozzella said. “I believe she could really turn the program around to the level that I thought it could reach and so did she. She did a great job for me for two years, but it was obvious her next step was to become a head coach and I am happy to see her taking that step.”
DeFalco with Bozzella at Iona
With Oliver extending Bozzella’s coaching tree into Long Island, Bozzella promoted Lauren DeFalco, who served as his recruiting coordinator to the lead assistant job. He also assigned Tiffany Jones-Smart to DeFalco’s previous assistant position. Bozzella said he feels very comfortable with DeFalco due to the strong relationship they have built up over the course of the last 9 years together, with DeFalco playing for Bozzella at Iona College for four years, before serving as an assistant coach under him for the last five years at Iona and then Seton Hall.
“Lauren is ready to take on the challenge, she worked hard for this and has really earned it,” Bozzella noted. “She is a tremendous competitor, probably the most competitive person I have been around, as both a player and as a coach. She is opinionated and tough. She will speak her mind and is far from being a ‘yes person,’ which is great. She has a strong will – it’s how she played and how she has been successful and I hope it continues to rub off on our players.”
Bozzella noted that promoting DeFalco to lead assistant was an easy decision because Jones-Smart continues to develop as an assistant coach. "I look forward to her building on her recruiting ties, player development skills and relationships.She has had a tremendous impact on getting a lot of our players,” Bozzella said. “On top of that she is such a hard worker and so smart, she has an advanced perspective on the game.”
To fill out the staff, Bozzella brought on Christian Stefanopoulos, who most recently served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Kentucky, a team that advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament last season. She also served as the video coordinator at Kentucky from 2007 through 2010.
Prior to her stint at Kentucky, Stefanopoulos served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Bucknell University, helping the team to the biggest turnaround in program history, going from five wins in 2011/12 to 15 wins the following season. She also served as an assistant coach at Morehead State University for two years.
“Christian brought in back to back rookies of the year at Kentucky and then Bucknell as well as another rookie of the year at Morehead State, so I think she can really help us expand our recruiting base” Bozzella said. “I think she is going to do great here because she is such a tireless recruiter who has an excellent basketball mind and that will allow us to branch out in multiple ways. In the last month to six weeks that she has been here, I can tell her recruiting prowess is fantastic. I am lucky to have her join our already great staff.”
Bozzella thinks that Stefanopoulos’ recruiting as well as the rest of his staff's will only improve thanks in part to the vision of Athletic Director Pat Lyons who has upgraded the facilities at Seton Hall from the training rooms to the weight rooms to the academic center and locker rooms.
“He gives me tremendous resources and with that comes high expectations, which I like, because I want to be pushed and challenged to be the best that I can be every day. I never want things to stay status quo. Seton Hall is a small catholic school, but we do not have to be just a small catholic school. We can be more. There is no reason we cannot be the best catholic school in the country, no reason why we cannot be the best team in the country and no reason why we cannot be best the best program in the country. Pat has given us every opportunity to do that and we believe that we can make it happen.”
Bozzella noted that the upgraded facilities are on par with most any athletic program in the nation as sophomore wing Claire Lundberg recently told him that Seton Hall's facilities are comparable to power conference schools she visited, including the University of Oregon's and Clemson University's.
While Bozzella gives credit to Lyons for assisting him achieve success so early in his tenure at Seton Hall, he does not forget to give praise to President Gabriel Esteban as well for enabling the facility renovations for the athletic programs as well as having the vision to make Seton Hall a collegiate destination for student athletes across the country.
Recently Bozzella and DeFalco found themselves at an airport looking to purchase tickets back home after a recruiting trip due to a travel agent error. While waiting to get tickets for a flight DeFalco saw that a women ahead of them in line was visibly upset as she was unable to pay for the luggage for her flight because she had lost her wallet. DeFalco told Bozzella about the situation and he stepped in and paid for her luggage so she could make the trip home.
“Anyone would have done the same thing in that situation,” Bozzella said. “Look at our school, what it stands for. We are about giving everyone an opportunity to work the hardest they can work so that we can be the best that we can be. Look at our school's president and how he carries himself -- that is what it is all about. It starts at the top. We do the right thing and we help people when they are in need.”
Bozzella believes his assistance at the airport was just a microcosm for Seton Hall’s values and beliefs, as well as an instance that showed the strong leadership and generosity of Esteban trickling down in what can only be referred to as a ‘teachable moment.’
Now back on campus Bozzella is enthusiastically getting his young ladies ready for the rigors of a new season. The Pirates will enter 2015 with a target squarely on their backs, and they will do so with a substantially different roster as they have to fill voids left by fifth year seniors Ka-Deidre (DiDi) Simmons and Daisha Simmons, sixth year senior Janee Johnson and senior Chizoba Ekedigwe, who will serve as a graduate assistant on Bozzella’s staff this coming year.
Part 2 to follow......
By Colin Rajala
Trove sports correspondent
Returning to coach at his alma mater, Anthony Bozzella inherited a women’s basketball program that had little to no expectations for success, but he was determined to resurrect the program to a level where it was competitive in the Big East and had an opportunity to contend for conference championships year in and year out.
Little did he know that he would achieve that in just his second season, coaching his squad to the most wins in program history with a 28-6 overall record, including 15-3 in conference. That was good enough to finish the regular season as Co-BIG EAST Champions and the number one seed in the league's tournament, both first time accomplishments.
The Pirates eventually advanced to the conference championship game and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, an achievement last seen in 1995.
Bozzella showing the passion that has made him so successful at his alma mater
“This year we established ourselves – we said to everyone Seton Hall is not a doormat anymore, we can play and we’re as good as everyone else,” Bozzella said. “We had a surreal season in some ways, securing the 4th longest winning streak in the nation, jumping out of the gate to a 15-2 record and pushing that to 21-3, winning senior day on a layup at the buzzer, and going down nine to Butler with one minute to go and then winning by nine. All of the credit goes to the kids, our fans and the great support we got at Walsh. I have to give special props to the seniors for sticking with it, I was their third head coach during their collegiate careers. They were a tough group, they stuck with it and they never gave up. Our staff pushed them hard and they responded.”
As the Pirates enter the 2015/16 season looking to build upon the success they had last year, they will have a different look internally as the program loses lead assistant Stephanie Oliver who moves on to nearby Long Island University - Brooklyn as that school's head coach following in the footsteps of Tony Bozzella who led the Blackbird's women's program for two years culminating in two conference championship games and the school's only NCAA berth in 2000.
“I still have a lot of friends over at LIU so after I heard about the coaching position opening up Steph and I talked and I thought it would be a great opportunity for her,” Bozzella said. “I believe she could really turn the program around to the level that I thought it could reach and so did she. She did a great job for me for two years, but it was obvious her next step was to become a head coach and I am happy to see her taking that step.”
DeFalco with Bozzella at Iona
With Oliver extending Bozzella’s coaching tree into Long Island, Bozzella promoted Lauren DeFalco, who served as his recruiting coordinator to the lead assistant job. He also assigned Tiffany Jones-Smart to DeFalco’s previous assistant position. Bozzella said he feels very comfortable with DeFalco due to the strong relationship they have built up over the course of the last 9 years together, with DeFalco playing for Bozzella at Iona College for four years, before serving as an assistant coach under him for the last five years at Iona and then Seton Hall.
“Lauren is ready to take on the challenge, she worked hard for this and has really earned it,” Bozzella noted. “She is a tremendous competitor, probably the most competitive person I have been around, as both a player and as a coach. She is opinionated and tough. She will speak her mind and is far from being a ‘yes person,’ which is great. She has a strong will – it’s how she played and how she has been successful and I hope it continues to rub off on our players.”
Bozzella noted that promoting DeFalco to lead assistant was an easy decision because Jones-Smart continues to develop as an assistant coach. "I look forward to her building on her recruiting ties, player development skills and relationships.She has had a tremendous impact on getting a lot of our players,” Bozzella said. “On top of that she is such a hard worker and so smart, she has an advanced perspective on the game.”
To fill out the staff, Bozzella brought on Christian Stefanopoulos, who most recently served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Kentucky, a team that advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament last season. She also served as the video coordinator at Kentucky from 2007 through 2010.
Prior to her stint at Kentucky, Stefanopoulos served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Bucknell University, helping the team to the biggest turnaround in program history, going from five wins in 2011/12 to 15 wins the following season. She also served as an assistant coach at Morehead State University for two years.
“Christian brought in back to back rookies of the year at Kentucky and then Bucknell as well as another rookie of the year at Morehead State, so I think she can really help us expand our recruiting base” Bozzella said. “I think she is going to do great here because she is such a tireless recruiter who has an excellent basketball mind and that will allow us to branch out in multiple ways. In the last month to six weeks that she has been here, I can tell her recruiting prowess is fantastic. I am lucky to have her join our already great staff.”
Bozzella thinks that Stefanopoulos’ recruiting as well as the rest of his staff's will only improve thanks in part to the vision of Athletic Director Pat Lyons who has upgraded the facilities at Seton Hall from the training rooms to the weight rooms to the academic center and locker rooms.
“He gives me tremendous resources and with that comes high expectations, which I like, because I want to be pushed and challenged to be the best that I can be every day. I never want things to stay status quo. Seton Hall is a small catholic school, but we do not have to be just a small catholic school. We can be more. There is no reason we cannot be the best catholic school in the country, no reason why we cannot be the best team in the country and no reason why we cannot be best the best program in the country. Pat has given us every opportunity to do that and we believe that we can make it happen.”
Bozzella noted that the upgraded facilities are on par with most any athletic program in the nation as sophomore wing Claire Lundberg recently told him that Seton Hall's facilities are comparable to power conference schools she visited, including the University of Oregon's and Clemson University's.
While Bozzella gives credit to Lyons for assisting him achieve success so early in his tenure at Seton Hall, he does not forget to give praise to President Gabriel Esteban as well for enabling the facility renovations for the athletic programs as well as having the vision to make Seton Hall a collegiate destination for student athletes across the country.
Recently Bozzella and DeFalco found themselves at an airport looking to purchase tickets back home after a recruiting trip due to a travel agent error. While waiting to get tickets for a flight DeFalco saw that a women ahead of them in line was visibly upset as she was unable to pay for the luggage for her flight because she had lost her wallet. DeFalco told Bozzella about the situation and he stepped in and paid for her luggage so she could make the trip home.
“Anyone would have done the same thing in that situation,” Bozzella said. “Look at our school, what it stands for. We are about giving everyone an opportunity to work the hardest they can work so that we can be the best that we can be. Look at our school's president and how he carries himself -- that is what it is all about. It starts at the top. We do the right thing and we help people when they are in need.”
Bozzella believes his assistance at the airport was just a microcosm for Seton Hall’s values and beliefs, as well as an instance that showed the strong leadership and generosity of Esteban trickling down in what can only be referred to as a ‘teachable moment.’
Now back on campus Bozzella is enthusiastically getting his young ladies ready for the rigors of a new season. The Pirates will enter 2015 with a target squarely on their backs, and they will do so with a substantially different roster as they have to fill voids left by fifth year seniors Ka-Deidre (DiDi) Simmons and Daisha Simmons, sixth year senior Janee Johnson and senior Chizoba Ekedigwe, who will serve as a graduate assistant on Bozzella’s staff this coming year.
Part 2 to follow......
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