Brooklyn, NY -- LIU Brooklyn head coach Jack Perri has announced the additions of assistant coaches Mark Calzonetti and Chuck Bridge to the men's basketball coaching staff. The pair joins assistant coach Jason Harris, who will return for his fifth season on the Blackbirds' bench.
Calzonetti comes to LIU after spending two seasons as assistant coach at Iona, helping the Gaels to a 50-20 two-year record and an NCAA Tournament berth last season. He played a key role in all facets of the Iona program including recruiting, advance scouting, practice and game planning. Calzonetti coached four all-conference performers in two seasons and saw the Gaels earn the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season championship in 2012, posting a 15-3 conference mark to match the program record for MAAC victories.
“Mark has always been very well respected within the coaching profession,” Perri said. “He has a tremendous work ethic and a wealth of experience both coaching and recruiting at the Division I level. Most importantly, he is a truly good person that has a real passion for the game that will translate well with our players.”
Prior to his stint at Iona, Calzonetti spent 11 seasons as assistant coach at Monmouth. He helped guide the Hawks to three Northeast Conference tournament championships and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, while also claiming two NEC regular-season titles. He was primarily responsible for handling the program's frontcourt players along with recruiting.
Calzonetti mentored several All-NEC and NEC All-Rookie Team members in his tenure with the Hawks. During the 2005-06 season, Monmouth won the NEC Championship as a No. 3 seed and earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in an opening round matchup over Hampton.
Calzonetti also has extensive international experience. He has recruited in England, France, Israel, Austria and the Netherlands and has helped run clinics in China and France. Before coaching at Monmouth, Calzonetti spent seven seasons at Fairfield. During his tenure with the Stags, he helped build the program into a perennial contender in the MAAC and earned a National Invitation Tournament bid in 1996. The following year, Fairfield became the first No. 8 seed to win the MAAC Tournament and with it a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Before arriving at Fairfield, Calzonetti was an assistant coach at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, Wash., and at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt. He began his coaching career at his alma mater Bentley in Waltham, Mass.
Bridge comes back to LIU after serving as the Blackbirds' director of basketball operations from 2006-08. He returns to Brooklyn with a wealth of coaching experience, most recently serving as assistant coach at Dartmouth for the 2011-12 season. Prior to his stint with the Big Green, Bridge spent a season as assistant coach at Trinity College, where he served as recruiting coordinator and helped the team advance to the NESCAC semifinals.
“I am excited to have Chuck return to LIU after five years,” Perri said. “As our director of basketball operations he was a loyal, relentless worker that also had a really good feel for the game. He has been ready for this opportunity and I am confident that he will do a great job for us.”
In 2009-10, Bridge was an assistant coach at New Haven in the Northeast-10 Conference after spending the previous season as an assistant at American International. He began his coaching career at Rutgers-Newark before joining the LIU staff for the first time. At both New Haven and Trinity, Bridge served as the top assistant with a hand in all aspects of the programs, including recruiting, breaking down film and organizing practices. He had the coaching bug while still an undergrad, serving as a volunteer assistant at Wilbraham and Monson Academy during his sophomore year, then was hired by the school for his last two years.
The Blackbirds captured their second consecutive NEC title last season, going 25-9 with a 16-2 conference record. LIU Brooklyn made its second NCAA Tournament appearance in as many seasons and returns a majority of the roster that won back-to-back championships for the 2012-13 season.