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| Bridgewater State athletics photo |
Bridgewater State head coach Joe Farroba announced his retirement after serving 36 seasons on the Bears’ men’s basketball coaching staff.
“I have truly enjoyed working at Bridgewater State and sincerely appreciate the staff support provided to me during my 36 years as part of Athletics and the BSU community,” Farroba said in a statement. “To all of the players, and their families that have trusted and believed in me and allowed me to coach you hard both on the court and in the game of life, I truly appreciate all of your hard work, sacrifice, loyalty, and dedication, in both the good times and in tough times.”
Farroba came to Bridgewater State in 1986 and served six seasons as an assistant coach under Mark Champagne before taking over the head coaching duties in 1992. Over the last 30 years, Farroba produced 402 coaching wins (402-365, .524) as he is the all-time winning coach in program history. His teams captured seven Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament titles and reached postseason play 11 times, including Division III NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2018. The 2009 squad advanced the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen after a dramatic win over nationally ranked Middlebury.
Bridgewater State was 4-19 this past season.
In 2008, the Bears were the national recipient of the Schoenfeld Award presented by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association. The award is presented to the college or university, which in the judgment of the CBOA membership, best exemplifies "the highest degree of sportsmanship, character, and ethics among their players, coaches and spectators. The Schoenfeld Award is the highest honor that the CBOA annually bestows on any collegiate institution.
Farroba was named MASCAC Coach of the Year by his colleagues in 1998, 2009, 2010 and again in 2012. Under his guidance, 34 different student-athletes (63 total) earned All-MASCAC honors including MASCAC Players of the Year Harry Grabert (2001), Nicholas Motta (2010) and Michael Lofton (2015) as well as three-time all-conference selections Dan Hunt, Mark Gonsalves, Peter Santos, Tom Cuddihy, Judah Jackson, Motta, Lofton, Joseph Carty and Rayshon Ward. Farroba also coached Bridgewater State Scholar Athletes of the Year Scott Knief (1993), Corey Connor (2011), Corey Ryser (2012) and Rocky DeAndrade (2018).
"Joe Farroba was one of the first people to welcome me to BSU nearly 11 years ago," said BSU Associate Vice President for Athletics and Student Wellness, Dr. Marybeth Lamb. "His impact on both the basketball program as well as the entire athletics program can never be overestimated. Joe is BSU Basketball."
Prior to coming to Bridgewater State, Farroba served as the head coach at Medfield High School, compiling a string of very successful seasons. The 1985-1986 MHS squad advanced to the Eastern Massachusetts finals, losing a heartbreaker to eventual state champion Cohasset. For his efforts Farroba was named both the Boston Globe Division III Coach of the Year and the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association Division III Coach of the Year.
A career educator, Farroba is a retired physical education teacher as he taught in the Medfield Public School system. He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of Justine and Johnny. Justine played basketball at Bridgewater State from 2005 to 2008, while Johnny competed on the football team from 2007 to 2010 and is currently the head equipment manager at BSU.
Farroba was inducted into the BSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013 and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.