NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Iona College men’s basketball head coach Tim Cluess announced the appointment of Bill O’Keefe and Zak Boisvert to his staff for the 2012-13 season. O’Keefe and Boisvert will replace Mark Calzonetti and Bob Paul. Calzonetti accepted the associate head coach position at LIU Brooklyn while Paul accepted the head coaching position for the varsity squad at Chaminade High School where he has been a teacher for the past several years.
“It’s with great pleasure that we welcome Bill and Zak to the Iona program,” said Cluess. “I’ve known Bill for almost 40 years now. He is a trusted friend with tremendous experience as a high school, college, and semi-pro coach and I will be dependant on him to assist in all facets of the program. Zak is young, up-and-coming basketball mind and did a great job on our staff my first year here. I’m thrilled to have him back in New Rochelle.”
O’Keefe comes to New Rochelle after spending last season as an assistant coach at Nassau Community College. In his one season in Garden City, he assisted long-time head coach A.J. Wynder’s squad to a 21-11 record and a NJCAA Region XV championship game appearance.
O’Keefe’s relationship with Cluess stems from their days as high school teammates for Frank Morris’ St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Centre. O’Keefe last worked with Cluess at C.W. Post where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. In Brookville, Cluess and O’Keefe combined for a 53-7 record from 2008-2010. CW Post earned an ECC Championship in 2009 en route to an NCAA Elite Eight appearance and a 30-1 overall record. It was the program’s first undefeated regular season (24-0, 18-0 ECC) in history. O’Keefe reunited with Cluess in 2008 after a successful career with the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan.
O’Keefe also worked with Cluess at St. Mary’s High School from 1993-1998. Among the many team accomplishments, the Gaels were the NYSCHSAA State and Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA champions in 1998. He began his coaching career as an assistant to Morris at St. Agnes in 1981 where he most notably coached current University of Florida head coach and former Providence College standout Billy Donovan.
He is a 1983 graduate of Queens College earning a degree in communications.
Boisvert returns to New Rochelle after spending last season with the Hoop Group, a basketball instruction organization in Neptune, NJ.
With the Hoop Group, Boisvert directed the organization’s grassroots basketball division, working with the nation’s premiere AAU basketball clubs. He coordinated and organized the Under Armour Championship Series events: The Hoop Group Jam Fests in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Boisvert served as Iona’s recruiting coordinator for one season after graduating from Fordham University in 2010. In the role, Boisvert was also responsible for video exchange, film breakdown, academics, and practice and game planning. The Gaels posted a 25-12 record and appearances in both the MAAC and CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament championship games.
At Fordham, Boisvert served as a team manager for four seasons where he assisted the staff in team travel, recruiting coordination, video exchange, individual workouts, and day-to-day program management. He worked with current Iona associate head coach Jared Grasso for three of the four years in the Bronx.
Along with his duties at Fordham, Boisvert spent his summers working several camps around the Northeast including Hoop Group, Five-Star, and Hoop Mountain.
The Portland, ME native is a 2010 graduate of Fordham and 2006 graduate of Deering High School.
Bill O’Keefe
Coaching Experience
2011-12 – Nassau CC – Assistant Coach
2008-10 – C.W. Post – Assistant Coach
1999-00 – Valley Stream HS – Head Varsity Coach
1998-99 – St. Mary’s HS – Head Women’s Varsity Coach
1993-98 – St. Mary’s HS – Assistant Varisty Coach
1991-95 – Long Island Surf (USBL) – Assistant Coach
1981-84 – St. Agnes – Assistant Varsity, Head JV Coach
Zak Boisvert
Coaching Experience
2011-12 – Hoop Group
2010-11 – Iona College – Recruiting Coordinator
2007-10 – Fordham University – Student Manager
It is kind of hard to take
It is kind of hard to take your anti-Iona stance seriously when you lift the College’s press release and post it as your article. Nowhere do you post above that this is the Iona College Press Release.
What anti-Iona stance?
Since when do I have an anti-Iona stance?
In any case, I have a category to click on to denote a press release. Sometimes, when I am rushing I miss clicking the check box.
In any case, press releases are put out under the Talk of the Sound News account not my personal account.
Regardless, I went to Iona Prep, have given a lot of coverage to Iona College, know the folks there and like them. Heck, I traveled all the way to Ohio on my dime to cover the Gaels appearance in the NCAA tournament. So you will have to explain the idea that I am anti-Iona.