The College of Staten Island men’s basketball program has announced the hiring of J.C. Albano as its new assistant coach. Albano will take over a vacated assistant position, and will join new head coach T.J. Tibbs and current assistant Nicholas Doran. Alongside Albano’s appointment, Tibbs has added Abe Akanmu and Orin McKay, Jr., to his staff as volunteer assistants.
A former Dolphin, Albano played with the Dolphins for a lone season in 2011-12, where he appeared in four games as a senior. He debuted his collegiate career at Baruch College in 2008-09. Despite his limited collegiate play, Albano has been on the coaching circuit for some time. He worked as a grammar school coach and drill instructor at Moore Catholic High School and the Staten Island Philippine American Group beginning in 2007. Upon his graduation from CSI in 2012, he served as the Junior Varsity Grad Assistant coach at Moore, and was later promoted to JV Head Coach. There, he helped Moore attain it’s first and only JV City Championship in school history during the 2014-15 season. His experience as a former player and working on the high school circuit will assist him to his newest collegiate transition.
“J.C. is an alumnus of the College who experienced the highest level of on court success during his time here,” said Tibbs of his newest addition. “He is an extremely smart and hardworking coach with a great ability to improve players through skill development. I am looking forward to having J.C. and his wife back with us in the CSI family.”
Like Tibbs, Albano feels the appointment at his alma mater is a return home, despite the limited time he spent playing basketball at the school. He hopes to aide greatly in the local recruiting circuit, and will be a fixture with individual instruction and talent evaluation.
“It’s so exciting to be a part of a program that I was a part of and that I feel a strong connection with,” said Albano. “Coming from the high school level I have spent a lot of time preparing athletes to get to this level and having a chance to work with these athletes now at this level is an honor and something I am looking forward to.”
The CSI Men’s Basketball season officially gets underway on October 15 with preseason training and practice. The regular season debuts at Yeshiva University on Wednesday, November 15.
