Mazzulla named Fairmont State head coach

From “Frog City” in Johnston to Fairmont, West Virginia.

That’s the career route Johnston native Joe Mazzulla, who grew up playing basketball in Rainone Gymnasium, has taken during his storied career that has had special successes and stops at Bishop Hendricken High School and the University of West Virginia that he led to a berth in the NCAA Final Four.

Until this season, Mazzulla served as an assistant coach at Fairmont State University prior to accepting a prestigious position as assistant coach of the Maine Red Claws, an NBA D-League franchise based in Portland, Maine that’s owned by the Boston Celtics.

Recently, Mazzulla had another marvelous milestone to his storied career when he was named head basketball coach at Fairmont State University that’s located in Fairmont.

As history has it, Mazzulla, who is the son of Johnston Parks and Recreation Director Dan Mazzulla, is the first and only Johnston native to ever play in the NCAA Final Four. Now, he’s the first and only Johnstonian to ever land an NCAA head basketball coaching position.

“I’m very, very happy for Joe,” said Dan Mazzulla, who starred at JHS and later Bryant College. “He’s always been a very hard worker; he started at the bottom and worked his way up. I’m thrilled that he’s found his vocation…he absolutely loves what he’s doing.”

Like father, like son?

“Joe has a great future ahead of him,” his father said of the 28-year-old Johnstonian, who has been a Hawk, Mountaineer, Red Claw and now a Fighting Falcon. “He also has a great family in back of him.”

That was perhaps a two-fold statement, simply because as Christopher Thomas, the Sports Information Director at Fairmont State University told the Sun Rise, “We are thrilled Joe’s back home; the people here love him.”

Mazzulla echoed those sentiments during an emotion-pitched press conference in which Fairmont State University President Dr. Maria Rose and Athletic Director Tim McNeely introduced the “Pride of Johnston” as the school’s new head men’s basketball coach.

“It’s truly a blessing to be 28 years old and have the opportunity that I have,” Mazzulla told the West Virginia media. “When my wife [Camai] and I got married we promised each other that we would be right where God wanted us to be, and we always knew that place was right here in Fairmont.”

The one-time sharp-shooting guard, who people in college basketball have often called “a first class young man with great qualities,” Mazzulla said, “There is no other place that has the support that Fairmont State does through their administration and athletic department.”

The former Hendricken All-Stater and West Virginia standout added, “I also want to thank the community here because you are the most important piece. Nobody can be successful or grow by yourself; you are just a product of the people that you surround yourself with.”

Mazzulla succeeds Jerrod Calhoun, who he assisted for three years and is the new head men’s basketball coach at Youngstown State University, an NCAA Division II school just like Fairmont State.

“I would like to thank President Rose, Athletic Director Tim McNeely, Coach Calhoun, the entire community and the current layers at Fairmont State for giving me this opportunity,” Mazzulla said. “It is very humbling to get this opportunity and I’m excited to come home and lead a program that is loved and supported by a group of passionate community members, Fairmont is a special place.”

FSU President Rose, as well as McNeely, feels the same way about Mazzulla.

“I am pleased to welcome Joe back to Fairmont State, and I have complete confidence that we have found a leader that can keep FSU basketball competing at the highest level,” Rose said before announcing Mazzulla as the school’s new head coach. “In addition to Joe’s past as both a basketball player and coach, Joe is a wonderful husband and father.”

Rose, who said she had the distinct pleasure of announcing Mazzulla to the media, continued, “Joe is an excellent mentor and role model for students. Joe is also a great coach, and we are proud to welcome him back to lead Fairmont basketball into the future.”

FSU is coming off a national runner-up season and McNeely, as well as the administration at Fairmont, wanted to keep the continuity and team chemistry as strong as possible and the feeling was that Mazzulla could keep the Fighting Falcons rolling in the right direction.

“Late Saturday night when Dr. Rose and I were discussing this possibility, it was a short discussion,” McNeely said. “There was one guy, Joe Mazzulla, that could pick up his torch and carry it. We are honored that he said yes and we are very excited for the future of Fairmont State basketball with Joe Mazzulla as our new head coach.”

Other speakers stepped up to the podium during the jam-packed press conference at Joe Retton Arena, excitement echoed in McNeely’s voice.

“We have a wonderful history in men’s basketball,” the FSU athletic director said. “And over the last five years we have really raised the bar. This is a very special moment for me and I can’t imagine how special of a moment this is for the Mazzulla family.”

Mazzulla and his wife, Camai, have two sons, Michael Harden and Emanuel Joseph Daniel Mazzulla, and make their home in Fairmont.