Tony Bozzella named New York state Division I Coach of the Year

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May 14, 2001

Tony Bozzella, who guided Long Island's women's basketball team to its first Northeast Conference title and first NCAA Tournament berth, today was named New York state Division I Coach of the Year.

The award is presented by the Basketball Coaches Association of the New York and will be given on October 5 in Albany, NY.

Bozzella took over the reins in the summer and turned a once dormant program into a conference champion. The Blackbirds (16-15, 11-7 NEC) posted the school's first winning season since 1979-80 and the most victories since 1976-77. They also tied the school record for most conference wins in one season.

LIU won its first NEC championship on March 5, when it defeated Mount St. Mary's, 70-61, for just the second time in 25 meetings before falling to Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bozzella is the first coach to win the NEC crown in his initial season.

Two seasons ago, the Blackbirds were 2-24 and rated the worst team in the country.

Bozzella arrived at LIU from Southampton, where he went 120-104 in eight seasons after taking over a program that was 30-119 in its six previous campaigns. With the Lady Colonials, Bozzella won back-to-back ECAC titles in 1998 and '99, went to the ECAC Final Four five times and notched the school's first 20-win season in 2000 (20-9).

In addition to his latest award, Bozzella was named Division II Metropolitan Coach of the Year in 1999 following a 19-11 campaign and the NYCAC Coach of the Year in 1995 with a 17-11 mark, a 14-win improvement in two seasons.

Bozzella was an assistant at C.W. Post from 1990-92 and coached St. Mary's High School in South Amboy, NJ from 1987-90. He started coaching St. Mary's while he was a senior at Seton Hall, where he graduated in 1988 with a B.S. in business management.