Tom Pecora begins his fifth season as the leader for the Fordham University program in 2014-2015, looking to continue the process of rebuilding the Rams.
Pecora has been laying the groundwork by recruiting some of the top local talent to Rose Hill the past two years, including one of the top Atlantic 10 recruiting classes in 2013-2014. The 2013-2014 class was led by Jon Severe, a Parade All-American and the 2013 New York City and New York State Player of the Year from Christ the King High School in Queens, the first ever New York State Mr. Basketball to sign with the Rams. Severe, who was named the Metropolitan Rookie of the Year, was joined by Antwoine Anderson, a Second Team All-New York State selection from Bishop Kearny High School in Rochester, along with Manny Suarez.
In 2014-15, the Rams welcome Eric Paschall, the 2014 NEPSAC AAA Player of the Year at St. Thomas More and the 2014 Westchester County’s Mr. Basketball at Dobbs Ferry. Along with Paschall, Pecora added an international flavor to the team with two recruits from Germany (Christian Sengfelder and Zaire Thompson) and one from Canada (Nemanja Zarkovic) and Australia (Dekeba Battee-Aston).
Pecora quickly gave Ram fans a taste of success as he guided his second Ram squad to signature wins over a Top 25 team as well as victories over teams from the Big East and ACC. He improved on the Rams’ win total from the previous two years, taking a program that won two games in all of 2009-2010 to nine home wins in 2011-2012 in the historic Rose Hill Gym, the most home victories for a Fordham team since 2006-2007. Fordham also notched a winning non-conference record that winter, the first winning non-conference slate for the Rams since 2006-2007.
Following the 2011-12 season, Pecora received a contract extension through the 2016-17 season.
In his first season on Rose Hill, Pecora immediately energized Fordham fans with a huge win over St. John’s while in 2011-12, he guided the Rams to a win over Georgia Tech from the ACC in a sold out Rose Hill Gym and then upended nationally ranked Harvard, Fordham’s first win over a Top 25 team since 2000.
Pecora, who led Hofstra University to four 20-win seasons as a head coach, was named head men’s basketball coach at Fordham University on March 25, 2010. In 16 years at Hofstra with Pecora on the staff (nine years as a head coach, seven as an assistant), the Pride averaged 19 wins a season (246-161). As a head coach, Pecora compiled a 155-126 mark in nine seasons, leading the Pride to four postseason appearances (three NIT and one CBI), the most for any New York City team over that time.
During his time in Hempstead, Hofstra was the winningest program in the Metropolitan New York area. Over his last six years, Hofstra won 121 games, including four 20-win seasons. In 2006 and 2009 he was named Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) and he has also received regional Coach of the Year honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY).
Pecora’s teams combined for a 69-26 record in the three years from 2004-07, registering three consecutive 20-win seasons and making three straight postseason National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances. He was on the bench for seven of the nine 20-win seasons that Hofstra has recorded at the Division I level.
In 2005-2006, Pecora led the Pride to a history-making 26-7 record, tying the school’s wins record and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NIT. Hofstra’s two wins in the NIT marked the school’s first two postseason wins at the NCAA Division I level. In addition, the Pride placed third in the Colonial Athletic Association regular season with a 14-4 conference mark, continuing a five-year streak of improving its CAA record in every season since joining the league in 2001-02 (Pecora’s first season). The MBWA named Pecora their 2005-2006 Division I Coach of the Year, while the NABC named him their District 2 Coach of the Year. He followed up that season with a 22-10 mark and an Aeropostale Holiday Festival Championship in 2006-2007, while leading the Pride back to the postseason NIT for the third year in a row.
Pecora first joined the Pride staff in 1994-1995 as an assistant under current Villanova head coach Jay Wright. In seven years as an assistant, Pecora played an integral role in building the Hofstra program into one of the top programs in the country. The Pride registered a 50-12 record over the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons, ranking sixth in the nation in winning percentage over that span (.806). Hofstra captured America East Championships and earned NCAA Division I Tournament berths in his final two seasons as an assistant coach (2000 and 2001).
Pecora also had previous experience in running a program, serving as head basketball coach at the State University of New York at Farmingdale from 1989-92. In three seasons at Farmingdale, the Rams posted a 62-24 record, captured the Region 15 championship in 1992 (when they finished 20-9), advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and were ranked as one of the nation’s top 20 junior college programs. He quickly built the program up from an 18-11 record in his first season (1989-90) to a 24-4 record in 1990-91. Along the way, Pecora coached two junior college All-Americans, Sam Rowe (1990) and Arthur Anderson (1991).
Pecora arrived at Hofstra in 1994 after serving as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Loyola Marymount. He also served as an assistant coach, along with Jay Wright, to Rollie Massimino at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1992-1993.
A native of Queens Village, New York, Pecora attended Martin Van Buren High School before moving on to Adelphi University, where he graduated in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health. He was inducted into Adelphi’s Hall of Fame in 2002. Pecora entered the coaching profession as an assistant to Bob McKillop at Long Island Lutheran High School from 1984 through 1987. Pecora then served as an assistant coach to Stu Klein at Nassau Community College in Garden City from 1987 through 1989. During his tenure at Nassau Community College, the Lions posted back-to-back 25-win seasons and in 1989 played in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament for the only time in school history.
A familiar figure in the community, Pecora is actively involved with several charities, including Coaches vs. Cancer and Futures in Education, He is also active with the Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD, the Each One Counts Foundation, the Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC), Covenant House and CYO Charities. During the summer of 2008, Pecora took part in Operation Hardwood, a USO-sponsored tour of Iraq and Kuwait.
Pecora and his wife, the former Mary Beth Cantwell, reside in Williston Park, New York, with their daughters, Amanda and Brianna, and their son, Sean.
