During his collegiate and professional playing career, Mike Iuzzolino has had the opportunity to play in many different environments including at the highest level of professional basketball in the NBA after being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 1991.
After his playing career was over, Iuzzolino worked under the tutelage of several head coaches as an assistant and associate head coach at a multitude of schools across the country and, most recently, Robert Morris University for the past eight seasons where he worked under head coach Andy Toole, first as an assistant coach and as the associate head coach.
But after almost two decades serving as an assistant coach at the collegiate level, Iuzzolino is getting a chance to go back and lead, just as he did as a point guard in his playing days, as he accepted a position as the new Sewickley Academy boys’ basketball coach on May 15.
“For 19 years I have been the guy that has made suggestions,” Iuzzolino said. “When I was a point guard for 12 years, I was a leader and there comes a time where you feel like you want to take on the responsibility of becoming a head coach and having your feet held to the fire, not just as a suggestion guy, but actually as the coach making the decisions and I felt like now was that time.”
When it comes to coaches working their way up the coaching ladder at the collegiate level, coaches, especially ones that are associate head coaches at the Division I level, would try and go after a head coaching position at a small Division I college or Division II.
But for Iuzzolino, having the chance to make an impact on high school students is something that has excited the Altoona native as he takes the next steps in his coaching journey.
“My degree from St. Francis University is in teaching and secondary education. People probably don’t know this about me, but when I was the associate head coach at St. Vincent, in my off time, I would go in and be a substitute teacher at different high schools in the area,” Iuzzolino said. “The opportunity to be able to make a positive impact on young students’ lives excites me because through being an Academic All-American while being in college and still being drafted into the NBA and having a successful career, I can impart a lot of knowledge, especially at Sewickley Academy.
“It is such a great academic institution and let guys know that you can do both [academics and athletics] and still have a chance to be a pro.”
Not only did having the opportunity to mentor students make the decision to accept the position at Sewickley Academy an easy one, but being an Academic All-American during his collegiate playing career, the strong emphasis that the Academy has on the balance of academics and athletics, along with the positive atmosphere the school has made the decision to step into the high school coaching ranks an easier one for Iuzzolino.
“There are more things in life that are important than basketball,” Iuzzolino said. “I think that this school embodies that and that is what I have always been about. They have put a great emphasis on that over here and that excited me about Sewickley Academy. When I came over and had a chance to meet the administration, they all just blew me away because they were all so friendly and all about the students. It was such a positive atmosphere it was so hard for me to walk away and have any negative thoughts about it.”
During his time at the collegiate ranks, Iuzzolino has had the opportunity to have a hand in all parts of a collegiate coaching staff from an assistant coach at Duquesne and George Mason University for its women’s basketball programs, the director of basketball operations at the University of New Mexico and Canisius along as the associate head coach at Saint Vincent College and Robert Morris.
Iuzzolino believes that having the chance to lead a program and have a hand in every aspect of the program will help him grow as a coach just as he did at the collegiate level.
“One of the things that helped me grow as a coach was going through all the other different aspects of a college program. I started in women’s basketball and then was a director of basketball operations and then I was in Division III. Each of those spots was different and with operations, you had to learn about the other side of the program not just the basketball side of it, but also the administrative side of the program. At the Division III level, you had to wear 10-12 different hats. Besides being able to help mentor young people, this is going to help me to grow as a coach. Some people will say that it is not college basketball that I am coaching but as a head coach at any level, you have a responsibility for all aspects of the program, and that will help me grow in my coaching ability.”
Many of the individuals who coach at the Division I level in college put so much time and effort into their program that they do not have time to partake in any activities outside of their respective jobs.
Iuzzolino who has a son who currently plays at St. Vincent College, has not had the opportunity to see him play due to being on the road for games or recruiting trips.
But now, with Iuzzolino away from the college basketball coaching grind, coaching at the high school level at Sewickley Academy has allowed him to be there more for his family which has excited him along with taking on this role.
“When you coach at the Division I level, sometimes you don’t have much of a life,” Iuzzolino said. “I have missed a lot of my son’s games being on a recruiting trip or a game trip so I wanted to see him play more because I have worked out with him every day since he was in the fifth or sixth grade. There have been times that I have missed games that I did not want to miss so this allows me to spend a little bit more time watching him and that was another factor in this decision.”
Iuzzolino has been around the game of basketball for over three decades now and each step of the way, he has had the chance to go out on his terms at each stop in his basketball journey whether it be his playing or coaching career.
By being able to go out on his own terms, the new Panthers boys basketball coach considers himself very blessed to lead this program during the 2024-25 campaign next winter.
“To be able to choose my own to take this job is such a great blessing,” Iuzzolino said. “There wasn’t someone when I stopped playing that said I couldn’t because I wasn’t good enough, I walked away on my own terms. The same went for my coaching journey in college basketball, I walked away being able to find a new outlet that I wanted to do and for that, I could not be more excited for.”