| Matt LeVangie replaces Malcolm Wynn as the head coach at Curry College. |
Curry College athletic director Vinnie Eruzione announced the appointment of Matt LeVangie of Peabody, Mass., as head men's basketball coach.
"We are pleased to announce Matt LeVangie as our new head men's basketball coach," said Eruzione. "He brings great basketball knowledge and a tremendous work ethic to Curry, along with a commitment to academic and athletic success and community involvement. Matt has a great passion for the success of his student-athletes both on and off the court."
"I am grateful to be named head men's basketball coach at Curry College," said LeVangie. "This is an exciting time to be associated with the Curry athletics program, and it is my goal to enhance the success of the program and the pride of the Curry College community."
LeVangie comes to Curry after four seasons as head coach at Wheelock. Only the second men's basketball coach in program history, he led the Wildcats to a third-place regular season finish and a berth in the New England Collegiate Conference tournament in his first season at the helm (2011-2012). The Wildcats went 12-14 that season but won 12 games total the next three seasons, including last year's 6-19 finish.
LeVangie has over 13 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including three at the NCAA Division II level. His experience has allowed him to excel in scouting, recruiting and development of both frontcourt and backcourt players, including a number of all-conference honorees.
He served as an assistant coach at Division II Stonehill College for two seasons, where he helped guide the Skyhawks to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances as well as the Northeast-10 Conference regular-season crown.
Prior to Stonehill, LeVangie was the associate head coach at Lasell for three campaigns, where he helped lead the Lasers to a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2008, and the GNAC regular-season title the following season.
LeVangie also spent two seasons as the associate head coach at his alma mater, Mary Washington, and began his coaching career with a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Suffolk from 2002-2004.
The former point guard has also helped hone the skills of many players at various well-known area basketball camps.
LeVangie enjoyed a four-year playing career at Mary Washington and was a captain for his final season with the Eagles. He graduated from Mary Washington in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and added a master's degree in special education from the same institution in 2008.
A native of Scituate, Mass., LeVangie works full-time as a special education teacher in the Framingham, Mass. school system.
Wheelock quickly fills vacancy
Wheelock didn't take a lot of time or go a great distance to fill its head coaching vacancy.
Athletic director Dwight Datcher named assistant coach Mike Pollio as the Wildcats' head coach within days of Curry announcing LeVangie's hiring.
"Mike has been a great asset to our student-athletes and our staff," remarked Datcher. "His knowledge of the sport and commitment to recruiting will be valuable as we continue to build the program."
Before spending one season as LeVangie's assistant at Wheelock, Pollio spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Division I Western Kentucky. He helped break down game film, prepared scouting reports for opponents, assisted with team academics, developed recruiting materials and co-ordinated on campus visits, designed and created a presence for the team on social media, represented the team in fundraising and community service events, and maintained an advanced knowledge of NCAA compliance rules through monthly meetings. In his time with Western Kentucky the squad won the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Pollio also served as the junior varsity head coach at the Louisville Collegiate School from 2006 to 2008 and guiding the team to the All "A" Regional Championships in 2008. He was a student assistant coach at NAIA Georgetown College in Kentucky from 2008 to 2010 before becoming the junior varsity head coach at Kentucky Country Day from 2011 to 2012.
Pollio earned his bachelor of arts in mathematics from Georgetown College in 2010 and his master's in recreation and sports administration from Western Kentucky in 2014.