1. I was raised locally in the town of Sand Lake. I have wonderful parents, and I am the youngest of three boys. My great grandparents were from Italy. My grandmother once told me the secret to longevity was garlic, and she never missed the opportunity to cook eggplant.
2. Speaking of food, I know a good pizza when I taste one. My father and his partner owned a pizzeria locally for 14 years, and I spent many days working with them. I purchased the pizzeria from them and operated it for six years until I sold it to pursue my career in athletics. It was here I was given my nickname babybause.
3. I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a master’s degree in secondary education, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in educational leadership.
4. Playing basketball has been my passion since I was a child. I began playing youth basketball at 10 years old and played through college. After playing basketball at a small DIII school in Vermont, I coached for nine seasons, three at the DIII level and six at the high school level. I still enjoy assisting with youth leagues.
5. My goal to become an athletic director started when I was 15 years old. In high school, my athletic director and head basketball coach was my role model. He inspired me not only by the way he coached but also with the experiences he gave, like designing a new basketball court and introducing me to Sam Perkins and the entire 1996 Seattle Supersonics team.
6. Before starting at Siena in June of 2019, I worked at La Salle Institute in Troy, NY. I started as a business teacher before accepting the athletic director position in 2014 and also serving a year as an assistant principal.
7. I met my wife, Katie when we were juniors in high school. We have a beautiful, smart, and kind ten-year-old daughter, Annella. We built a house in our hometown, two houses down from my amazing in-laws on a small private lake. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time at the lake with family and friends, kayaking, and landscape photography.
8. I am not very handy, or at least I wasn’t at first. We purchased a seasonal camp built in the 1930s next to our house to restore. Our goal is to restore the camp and its historic lighthouse, to use both as a rental and also a respite for those recovering from illnesses. We have been restoring the property for three years with the help of my father-in-law. I quickly realized that projects don’t get done in an hour like on HGTV.
9. My wife and I love to travel. She loves a spontaneous trip and will frequently pack us up in the morning to be at a new destination by dinner. We have adventured up and down the entire East and West coast and explored beautiful beaches. Our favorite trip was driving coastal highway 1 in California. Our daughter is 10 years old and has already been to 30 states.
10. Last but certainly not least, I am a huge Billy Joel fan! He was the very first concert I went to at eight years old, but that was only the beginning. Since then, I have seen him perform 17 times, five of those times were with Elton John. Each experience has been unique, from first row to nose bleed, from free upgrades to camping out for tickets. One concert I got a drumstick and harmonica. However, my favorite experience was bringing my daughter to Madison Square Garden to see Billy Joel for her very first concert.
