Fairfield University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Sydney Johnson has announced the addition of Mitch Buonaguro and Tom Parrotta to his coaching staff.
Buonaguro returns to Fairfield University, where he served as head coach of the Stags’ basketball team for six seasons. He led Fairfield to two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearances. Under his guidance in 1985-86, Fairfield posted a 24-7 overall record and captured the MAAC regular season and tournament titles en route to an NCAA Tournament game against the University of Illinois. One year later, he brought the Stags to a second straight MAAC Championship and a berth to meet eventual national champion Indiana University in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
He came to Fairfield University after serving as an assistant coach at Villanova University for eight seasons, including the Wildcats’ 1984-85 National Championship team. Buonaguro, who started his coaching career at Boston College – his alma mater – as an assistant coach from 1975-77, joined Rollie Massimino’s Villanova staff for the 1977-78 campaign and stayed through the championship season. He left Villanova to accept the head coaching position at Fairfield, where he stayed through the 1990-91 campaign. After Fairfield, Buonaguro joined the coaching staffs as an assistant at Texas A&M (1991-96), Cleveland State (1996-2003), UNC-Greensboro (2003-2005), and Siena (2005-10).
Buonaguro returned to the head coaching ranks when he took over the position at Siena for three seasons beginning in 2010-11. After leaving Siena, he became a television analyst for MAAC basketball.
Parrotta comes to Fairfield after spending the last three seasons at Fordham University as an assistant coach. The Fordham graduate previously held the head coaching position at Canisius College for six seasons. He guided the Golden Griffs to back-to-back 15-win seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11, the program’s first consecutive 15-win campaigns since 1995-96 and 1996-97. Academically, every senior that played for Parrotta at Canisius graduated from the College. Many of his student-athletes earned their undergraduate degrees in three years and their graduate degrees in their fourth year, an accomplishment for which Parrotta was recognized by the NCAA.
Parrotta started his coaching career as an assistant at Nazareth College. He stayed one season before joining Jack Armstrong’s staff at Niagara University for the 1995-96 season. After leaving the Purple Eagles in 2001, he served as an assistant coach at Hofstra University (2001-06) until receiving the nod at Canisius College for the 2006-07 campaign.
As an undergraduate at Fordham, Parrotta was a four-year letterwinner who served as team captain for two seasons. He helped the Rams garner two NIT appearances. He continued his playing career in the Portuguese Basketball Association, staying in the PBA for three seasons.
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