Record breaking success and consistent winning. Those two phrases can sum up the career of La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini, who completed his 13th season at the school in 2016-17.
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 the University of Maine's history. When he left Rowan University, Giannini was the winningest active NCAA Division III head coach.
In 2012-13, Giannini guided the Explorers to a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance with three wins in five days and a #24 national ranking in the final USA Today/Coaches Poll. La Salle’s 24 wins were the seventh most in the program’s rich 82-year history and the most since 1990.
The Blue and Gold knocked off three nationally-ranked teams during the 2012-13 season, including #9/9 Butler, #19/16 VCU and #12/14 Kansas State. A program-record 11 Atlantic 10 wins tied for third in the nation’s seventh-best conference.
Giannini was named the Big 5 Coach of the Year in 2013 after leading the Explorers to a share of the Big 5 title.Â
In 2011-12, Giannini led La Salle to its first postseason appearance in 20 years with an appearance in the NIT. The 21 wins were the most in 22 years.
The recent back-to-back 20-win seasons, however, have not been the only success for the Explorers during Giannini’s tenure. After accepting what most observers believed would be a major rebuilding job, Giannini’s Explorers have finished in the top half of the Atlantic 10 six of the past 10 years. This has established a new level of consistent success for a program that previously had experienced no winning A-10 records since joining the highly-regarded league.
Academic success is also a major emphasis of Giannini's coaching philosophy. La Salle’s Yves Mekongo was a two-time Academic All-American and 2010 NACDA I-AAA Scholar Athlete of the Year. Steve Weingarten also earned Academic All-District recognition in 2009-10. Mekongo and Weingarten were also the A-10 Student-Athletes of the Year in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
The team's APR (Academic Progress Rate) has improved each season under Giannini and 100% of seniors recruited by the head coach have graduated. Former Explorers Hank Davis and Amar Stukes were named the Big 5 Scholar-Athletes of the Year in 2015 and 2016, respectively.Â
Giannini is involved in many leadership activities. He is a member of the board of trustees at his alma mater, North Central College, and served on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Congress and on the NABC Committee for Recruiting Rules and Access. At Rowan University, he was a member of the faculty senate.
He authored Court Sense: Winning Basketball's Mental Game, published by Human Kinetics in 2008 and published articles for academic research journals and practical coaching publications. He has also taught courses at the University of Maine and Rowan University.
Giannini was introduced as the 18th head coach in the history of Explorer men's basketball on August 23, 2004.
"John Giannini has earned respect as a coach and as a person wherever he has been," said former 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."
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. His teams made five trips to the America East semifinals or better in his final six seasons and made appearances in the AEC's championship in game two of his last three seasons in Orono. Giannini’s two 20-win campaigns are the only two on record in program history.
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, N.J. 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. 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, Ill.) and North Texas.
The Chicago, Ill. native (Fenwick High) earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) in 1984 and his master of science degree in physical education with a specialization in sports psychology from North Texas in 1986. "Dr. John" also earned a Ph.D. in kinesiology with a specialization in sports psychology from Illinois in 1992.
Giannini was a two-time all-conference player at North Central and remains sixth on the school's all-time rebounding list. He is tied for fourth in career games played and his 21 rebounds in a game remain fifth in program history.Â
He resides in Mullica Hill, N.J. with his wife Donna and daughters Brianna and Jamie.
