The Saint Vincent Bearcat basketball program announces that Mike Iuzzolino has been promoted from Assistant to Associate Coach.

Iuzzolino joined the Bearcat staff prior to the 2008-09 season and has proven to be a valuable mentor for the players.

"Mike is the great person and a great coach," said Head Coach DP Harris.  "We have had a lot of assistant coaches move on from here to bigger and better things, and Mike will likely continue that trend.  We are happy to have someone of his caliber here, and I know he has a bright future in coaching.  This year he will have additional responsibilities and I know I can rely on him to do everything perfectly."

A star in his hometown of Altoona, Mike was named First Team All State in 1986, and played in the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic.  After playing two years for Penn State University, he transferred to Saint Francis University in Loretto, and was a two-time First Team Academic All-American.  In 1991, he was the CoSIDA All-Academic Player of the Year.

Following his stellar college career, he was drafted in the second round (35th overall) by the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA and played two seasons.  A point guard, he averaged 9 points, 4.3 assists and 2 rebounds in 122 games. He ranked fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage, shooting at a 43.4 percent clip (59-136) during the 1991-92 season.

He then played two seasons in the Continental Basketball Association before moving on to Italy's first division, where he spent the next six seasons.  He concluded his playing career after two seasons in Spain, then went into coaching.

Mike's first coaching experience came at Duquesne University, where he worked under Coach Dan Durkin.  After two years with the Lady Dukes, he spent one season as an assistant with George Mason University's women's program before coming to Saint Vincent.