Gina Castelli begins her first season as Rhode Island's Directorof Player Development in 2012-13. She comes to URI after spendingthe past 22 seasons as the head coach at Siena College.
The winningest coach in Siena Basketball history, Castelli posted a336-296 (.532) overall record including a 225-146 (.606) mark inthe MAAC. A five-time MAAC Coach of the Year (1991, '94, '98, '01,'02), she also guided the Saints to seven MAAC Regular SeasonTitles (1993-94, '97-'98, '98-'99, '00-'01, '01-'02, '02-'03,'03-'04) as well as the MAAC Tournament title during the 2000-01campaign.
Under Castelli's guidance, Siena also posted seven 20-win seasonsand made four postseason appearances, playing in the NCAATournament in 2001 and the WNIT in 1999, 2002 and 2003.
Castelli - who boasts a perfect 100% graduation rate as a headcoach - has coached 39 All-Conference selections, seven Players ofthe Year and four Rookie of the Year award winners. Additionally,20 of her former players have gone on to play professionally.
Castelli spent the 1989-90 season as an assistant at Siena, underthen head coach Jim Jabir. A year later, she became the fourthyoungest coach in Division I at the time (27), and quickly engravedher name in MAAC history by guiding the Saints to a 21-7 record anda second-place finish in the league. That year, she also won thefirst of her five MAAC Coach of the Year awards and was selected asthe New York State Division I Coach of the Year - an honor whichshe repeated in 1999.
Off the court, Castelli's student-athletes have enjoyed benchmarksuccess in the classroom. The Siena women's basketball team posteda 93% cohort Graduation Success Rate compared to the nationalaverage of 83% in the 2009 NCAA Division I Federal Graduation Ratesand NCAA GSR Report. The Saints were recognized in 2006-07 and2007-08 by the NCAA for posting a multi-year Academic Progress Rate(APR) in the top-10 percent of all Division I women's basketballprograms. Siena was among 32 institutions in 2006-07 and 35 in2007-08 after securing an impressive multi-year APR.
Additionally, two Saints earned MAAC All-Academic Team honorsawarded at the conclusion of the 2010-11 campaign. Siena tied forthe national lead in 2003 with a 100% graduation rate according tothe NCAA report. The program was also one of just two (Stanford) inthe 64-team NCAA Tournament in 2001 to have graduated 100 percentof incoming players over a seven-year period.
A 1986 graduate of Canisius, Castelli finished her collegiatecareer as one of the greatest players in program history, rankingthird in scoring (1,524 points), assists (578) and steals (273).She was inducted into the Golden Griffin Hall of Fame in 1997. Atrue student-athlete, Castelli was also recognized as an AcademicAll-American during her time at Canisius.
Castelli is an active member of the Women's Basketball CoachesAssociation and previously served as WBCA captain. She also hasserved as a nominator for the USA Today Top-25 Coaches' Poll andwas a member of the NCAA East Regional Advisory Committee from1999-2002.
In her spare time, she has volunteered with the Special Olympics,Girls Inc., the Albany Boys & Girls Club, the Miracle Leagueand the Ronald McDonald House. She also has been involved withCapital Region Action Against Breast Cancer and - over a three-yearspan - helped raise $75,000 through breast cancer awarenessgames.
Updated: 9/13/12
