After nearly a decade of proving his mettle as one of the top
assistant coaches in the game,
Joe Tartamella ’04MBA was named the Red Storm’s eighth Head
Women’s Basketball Coach.
For this ambitious Long Island native, who worked his way up at St.
John’s from Graduate Assistant to Head Coach, the opportunity is a
dream come true.
“When I was a kid, St. John’s was the basketball school,”
Tartamella explained. “I grew up rooting for Felipe Lopez ’98SVC,
Zendon Hamilton ’98C and so many other great Johnnies. I even went
to the Coach Lou Carnesecca ’50C, ’60GEd, ’00HON basketball camp
back when I was in high school. So St. John’s was clearly my team,
and to join that tradition now as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach
is something truly special.”
The selection of Tartamella comes as no surprise to the Red Storm
faithful. He joined the team in 2002 as previous Head Coach Kim
Barnes Arico’s first graduate assistant and worked his way up the
ranks to become Assistant Coach and eventually Associate Head
Coach. Along the way, he developed a national reputation for his
top-notch recruiting and game-planning.
“Kim
was an incredible mentor and taught me a lot over the years,”
Tartamella said. “The most valuable lesson was her leadership, how
to handle not only your players, but your coaching staff. She gave
me more and more responsibilities each year to prepare me for this
position, and I learned how to push the right buttons with our
players. It’s important to let them be themselves on the court, but
also provide the correct structure they need to truly excel.”
The Women’s Basketball team is coming off its most successful
season in program history, having reached its first-ever NCAA Sweet
16. With a strong group of returning players, Tartamella is excited
to build on that success.
“We’ve been thriving both in our conference and across the
country,” he noted. “Our team has an up-tempo style, allowing our
defense to flow into our offense, and that’s exciting for our fans
to watch. I expect great things, and we feel that we have a team
that can sustain the same level of success that we’ve been
having.”
He added, “It’s an exciting time for our team, and I’m looking
forward to this new role and taking the helm of such a great
program.”