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Iona College men’s basketball head coach Tim Cluess announced the return of Mark Calzonetti as assistant coach for the 2015-16 campaign.

“I look forward to having Mark back for the upcoming year,” said Cluess. “I have known him for a long time and his work-ethic and attention to detail will be vital to our success this season.”

Calzonetti returns to New Rochelle after spending three seasons at LIU Brooklyn under head coach Jack Perri. The Blackbirds won the 2013 Northeast Conference Championship in his first season in Brooklyn and took on James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Championship that season.

Prior to LIU, he was hired by Cluess as an assistant coach on Apr. 28, 2010 and spent two seasons at Iona. Calzonetti played a key role in all facets of the Iona program including recruiting, advance scouting, practice and game planning. He coached four all conference performers in two seasons including graduates Mike Glover, Scott Machado and Kyle Smyth and rising senior Lamont Jones. Glover, Jones, and Machado were also All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) selections. The Gaels earned the MAAC regular season championship in 2012, posting a 15-3 conference mark and at the time matched the program record for MAAC victories. Iona also earned its first at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament in Calzonetti’s final season during his first stint with the Maroon & Gold.

Calzonetti spent 11 seasons at Monmouth and seven seasons at Fairfield prior to joining Cluess’ staff in 2010. He is a 1985 graduate of Bentley College and was a teammate of Cluess at St. John’s before transferring to compete with the Falcons in Waltham, MA.

http://www.icgaels.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14900&ATCLID=210362715

Photo Courtesy Iona Athletics