Dr. John Giannini enters his sixth season as head coach at La Salle University in 2009-10. Last season, Giannini led the Explorers to 18 wins, including a 3-1 record in the Philadelphia Big 5, which was second to only Final Four participant Villanova. The Explorers' fifth place finish in the Atlantic 10 marked the third time in the last five years the Explorers finished in the top half of the league. Giannini is La Salle's all-time winningest coach in Atlantic 10 play and has produced the program's only winning A-10 records since joining the league in 1995-96. He is also the winningest coach in Maine history and when he left Rowan, Giannini was the winningest active NCAA Division III head coach. He was introduced as the 18th head coach in the 79-year history of Explorer men's basketball on August 23, 2004. The late-summer appointment made recruiting efforts impossible, leaving Giannini with a team consisting of only a handful of available scholarship players for most of the season. Giannini quickly turned La Salle into a conference contender as two years later in 2005-06, the Explorers posted their most wins (18) in 14 years and a third place finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the school's highest showing since it joined the league for the 1995-96 season. The 18-10 finish set records for most Atlantic 10 wins in a season (10), most Atlantic 10 road wins in a single season (four) and delivered a winning season to the La Salle community for the first time since the 1992-93 season. For his efforts, Giannini was named a Jim Phelan Award candidate for National Coach of the Year. Giannini followed that impressive performance by recruiting one of the deepest and most highly-regarded incoming classes which included five freshmen who would have an immediate impact on the program. The Explorers experienced growing pains as five of the top seven players in the 2006-07 rotation were freshman. That group meshed together in 2008-09, winning 18 games and finishing in the top half of the Atlantic 10 for the third time in five seasons. Rodney Green earned all-conference honors in 2008-09, becoming the fifth Explorer under Giannini to do so. He also coached two-time A-10 Player of the Year Steven Smith, one of four players in the 33-year history of the league to win the award multiple times. Giannini also developed Darnell Harris, who ended his career as the all-time leader in three-point field goals at La Salle and the Atlantic 10. Academics and community service are also tenets of Giannini's coaching philosophy. Yves Mekongo was named a CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American in 2009, becoming the fourth Explorer all-time to be named to the national team. The team's APR (Academic Progress Rate) has improved each season under Giannini and 100% of seniors recruited by the head coach have graduated. Off the court, La Salle basketball players have worked with Logan Elementary School to build a playground and have served as mentors with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Sherman Diaz, a four-year letterwinner with the Explorers, currently serves as the Director of Project Teamwork, the athletic department's community service outreach organization. Giannini authored Court Sense: Winning Basketball's Mental Game, published by Human Kinetics in 2008. He has also authored articles for academic research journals and practical coaching publications. He came to Philadelphia after an impressive eight year run at the University of Maine where he built the Black Bears into a perennial force in the America East Conference. During his tenure, Giannini compiled the best record of any coach in UMaine history by going 125-111 with a pair of 20-win seasons, five trips to the America East semifinals or better, and appearances in the AEC's championship in game two of his last three seasons in Orono. The two 20-win campaigns are the only two on record in program history. "We are very pleased that our search for a head coach yielded Dr. John Giannini," said La Salle Athletic Director Dr. Thomas Brennan. "He is not only a great basketball coach but he also has the background and the character that we want to see out of the coach that will head our program. One of the things that really impressed us was his record and ability to build and sustain a program. We were also very pleased with his ability to manage a wide array of issues related to the development of student-athletes." "John Giannini has earned respect as a coach and as a person wherever he has been," said La Salle President Brother Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C, Ph.D. "He recognizes, and believes in, the prominent place that values and academics have at La Salle." Giannini's knack for winning began much closer to the Philadelphia area, however, having spent seven seasons as head coach at Rowan University in nearby Glassboro, NJ. During his run as the Profs head coach, he amassed a 168-38 record and a Division III National Championship in 1996 with a team that went 28-4. His Rowan teams won 20 or more game in all but one of his seven seasons, the lone exception was a 17-11 run in his first season at the helm (1989-90). He left Rowan with the best winning percentage in the nation (.814) among all active NCAA coaches. He was inducted into the Rowan Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Before becoming the head coach at Rowan, Giannini served on Lou Henson's staff at the University of Illinois from 1987-89. In his two seasons as a graduate assistant, the Illini made two trips to the NCAA Tournament including a Final Four appearance in 1989 with a team that went 31-5 in the regular season. He also assisted at Parkland Community College (Champaign, IL) and North Texas. The Chicago, IL native (Fenwick High) earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from North Central College (Naperville, IL) in 1984 and his master's in physical education with a specialization in sports psychology from North Texas in 1986. "Dr. John" also earned a doctorate in kinesiology with a specialization in sports psychology from Illinois 1992. Giannini's ties to the Philadelphia area are considerable, having recruited largely from the region both at Rowan and while building the program at Maine. After recruiting a roster of his own players at Rowan, Giannini had an amazing 110-12 record during his last four seasons. Besides the national championship, his Rowan teams made two other appearances in the NCAA Division III Final Four. Giannini and his wife, Donna, have two daughters - Brianna (16) and Jamie (11). |
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