Le Moyne College has made its decision on who they will entrust the waters of the future with, naming Nick DiPillo the next head coach of the Dolphins women's basketball program.
"Nick's experience and success at every step in his coaching career makes him the ideal person to lead the women's basketball team as they look to improve on their impressive first year in Division I," Le Moyne President Dr. Linda LeMura expressed. "In addition to his coaching prowess, his time as head coach at the University of Scranton has given him an understanding of the Jesuit ethos that is so vital to the student-athlete experience at Le Moyne."
This is the second hire that Dr. Linda LeMura and Assistant Vice President of Athletics and Recreation Bob Beretta have made together for the women's basketball program, following the hiring of Mary Grimes, who had been an assistant coach in the program twice prior.
“Following an extensive national search, we are thrilled to name Nick DiPillo as our next women’s
basketball Head Coach,” shared Beretta. “Nick possesses all the qualities we desired in our next Head
Coach and owns a long track record of success. We believe strongly that Nick DiPillo is the perfect
candidate to build on the excellence our program has achieved in recent years."
“I’d like to thank President Linda LeMura and our Search Committee for their exhaustive work
throughout the process,” Beretta went on to say. “We considered a strong pool of highly qualified candidates. In
the end, Coach DiPillo clearly separated himself as the person best-suited to continue our program’s
success as we progress in our transition to the Division I level.”
The program was under the leadership of Grimes for the past three seasons, with Grimes guiding the Dolphins to a national postseason tournament in each of those seasons, achieving a place in the NCAA Division II Tournament in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns and most recently reaching the WNIT in the program's first season of reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I (LeMoyne was not allowed to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament due to NCAA rules that prevent a school from playing in the tournament during their four-year reclassifying period).
Before that, Gina Castelli led Le Moyne women's basketball to back-to-back berths in the NCAA Division II Tournament, with the team winning two games nationally in the 2018-19 season. After the Dolphins advanced to the national tournament in the 2019-20 campaign, the games were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most recently, DiPillo was an assistant coach on the Bowling Green Falcons women's basketball staff in the 2023-24 campaign, where he helped the program to a winning record of 16-15 and a place in the WNIT in the same year as Le Moyne, as aforementioned.
He served as an assistant coach on the University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball staff in 2022-23.
From 2019-22, DiPillo was the head coach of the University of Scranton Lady Royals women's basketball program, which competes in the Landmark Conference in NCAA Division III.
At Scranton, DiPillo went 58-8 overall (.879) and 32-3 (.914) in the Landmark Conference, leading the Lady Royals to three-straight conference championships. Under his tutelage, Scranton advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament in two of his three seasons there, making it all the way to the nation's Sweet 16 in his last season with the Lady Royals (2021-22). That season, Scranton finished 27-3 overall, including going 14-0 in the Landmark.
The 2020-21 was halted to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Scranton ending a condensed season at 7-1 overall, including a 6-1 finish in the Landmark Conference.
DiPillo's first season at Scranton, and first-ever as a head coach, concluded with the Lady Royals going 24-4 overall, winning 12 of their 14 Landmark Conference games, attaining a 12-2 record.
“I am honored to be joining the Le Moyne College community as the next women’s basketball head coach,” DiPillo shared. “I’ve always believed that the people are what make a place great and from the
first time I stepped on campus, I knew that this was home for my family and I."
DiPillo's family is comprised of his wife Kelsey, his two-year-old son Frank, and their daughter-to-be who is due in August of this year, along with his 16-year-old daughter Madelyn.
"Le Moyne’s ability to offer a transformative student-athlete experience as a Catholic and Jesuit institution is one of the many reasons this is such a desirable destination," DiPillo added. "I am incredibly grateful to President LeMura, Bob Beretta, and the entire search committee for granting me the tremendous opportunity to lead this program."
"I look forward to leading an incredible group of student-athletes as we strive to reach new heights here at Le Moyne College."
Before his time in Northeast Pennsylvania, DiPillo was a member of the Seton Hall Pirates women's basketball squad from 2014-19, serving as director of player development for his first three seasons there and then as an assistant coach for his latter two seasons with the New Jersey-based institution. While he was at Seton Hall, the Pirates achieved an overall record of 94-66, with two of his five seasons there ending with 23 or more victories.
During his first two seasons with the Pirates, the women's basketball team won their first-ever Big East Conference championship and achieved back-to-back trips to the NCAA Division I Tournament, going in 2015 and 2016 after not having been there since 1995.
DiPillo taught the future of the game as a skills trainer/camp director at the Monroe Sports Center, less than an hour from Seton Hall, from 2010-14.
Along with head-coaching experience and time at the NCAA Division I and Division III levels, he also comes to Le Moyne with time put in at the professional level, serving as an assistant coach on the New York Liberty staff from 2005-09, where he worked primarily with post players.
During his tenure in the WNBA with the Liberty, DiPillo assisted a team that achieved four playoff appearances, including an advancement to the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.
His coaching career began in 2003, when DiPillo was hired as an assistant coach for the Kean University men's basketball program. In two seasons at Kean, he was a part of a Cougars' squad that went 34-19 overall, and came home with an ECAC Metro Championship in 2005.
DiPillo attended Rutgers-Camden, playing on their collegiate basketball team from 1999-2001 before transferring to Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), where he continued his career as a student-athlete from 2001-03. He graduated from FDU in 2003 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology.
Here is a look back at the aforementioned coaching journey of DiPillo:
Le Moyne College – Women's Head Coach (2024-present)
Bowling Green State University – Women's Assistant Coach (2023-24)
University of Pittsburgh – Women's Assistant Coach (2022-23)
Scranton University – Women's Head Coach (2019-22), 58-8 overall record
Seton Hall University – Women's Assistant Coach (2014-19)
New York Liberty (WNBA) – Assistant Coach (2004-09)
Kean University – Men's Assistant Coach (2003-05)
Thanks to Le Moyne College for their assistance with the information included in this article.