Following up on HoopDirt.com’s D3 DIRT from last week. The hiring of Dan Bozzelli as the new head coach at Purchase is now official. Here’s the release from the college:
Purchase College Director of Athletics and Recreation Chris Bisignano has announced the hiring of Daniel Bozzelli as the new head men’s basketball coach. Bozzelli, a decorated coach who spent the past two seasons as the top assistant at Vassar College, will be making his head coaching debut with the Panthers.
“We are happy to welcome Dan to the Panther family,” Bisignano said. “I could not be more excited for the next chapter and continued success of our men’s basketball program under Dan’s leadership.”
Bozzelli, whose hiring was announced this morning, brings with him an array of coaching experiences. During his two-year stint at Vassar, Bozzelli helped lead the Brewers to 22 overall wins, 14 in the Liberty League and a 2019-20 postseason appearance in the conference championship tournament.
Bozzelli has over 15 years of coaching and operations experience, including a year recently spent at Division I Eastern Kentucky University where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations. From 2012-2015, Bozzelli served as an assistant at the University of Rochester, helping the Yellowjackets achieve a No. 1 ranking in the nation in 2013, along with a conference championship title. Prior to that, Bozzelli was a three-year assistant at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., helping the Golden Flyers to a 2010 Empire 8 championship, while also serving as the Assistant Compliance Director for all sports.
His coaching resume also boasts stops at Wilmington University, Ithaca College and Rochester Institute of Technology, along with camps at the University of Notre Dame, Davidson College, Dickinson College, Siena College and RIT.
“It is an honor to be named the head men’s basketball coach at Purchase College,” Bozzelli said. “I would like to thank Director of Athletics Chris Bisignano and the search committee for trusting me to develop our student-athletes and to play an exciting style of basketball that will make the Purchase fans proud.”
Bozzelli inherits a successful Panther program that won the Skyline North Division, finished as the No. 2 seed in the conference postseason and closed with an 18-10 overall record (11-5 Skyline) last season. The 2019-20 campaign marked the program’s 12th consecutive playoff berth in the Skyline. Bozzelli replaces former head coach Kyle Martin, who left Purchase after five years at the helm.
Bozzelli earned his undergraduate degree in physical education from SUNY Cortland, where he was also a two-year basketball letter winner.
The Rochester, N.Y. native continued his education while coaching at Ithaca, earning a master’s degree in physical education in 2008. He later pursued post-graduate course work in the field of higher education while coaching at the University of Rochester.
