CCRI names new men's basketball coach. Who is it?
WARWICK — Mike Romano has been named the new head basketball coach at the Community College of Rhode Island, becoming just the fifth in the program’s 58-year history dating back to 1965.
Romano has spent the last 2½ years at CCRI as the Athletics, Recreation and Wellness Departments Compliance Coordinator and brings a wealth of coaching experience to the men’s basketball program. A Pawling, N.Y., native and Glocester, R.I., resident, Romano has coached at Rhode Island College, Bard College, Alfred University, and Hartwick College in addition to his role with various Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball tournaments and organizations.
“I am extremely excited to announce Mike Romano as the fifth head men’s basketball coach at the Community College of Rhode Island,” said Ashley Casiano, the Director of Athletics, Recreation and Wellness. “His accomplishments as a coach, passion for excellence, and commitment to building student-athletes on and off the court firmly align with the goals of our department. We look forward to the Romano era of men’s basketball at CCRI.”
More: PC Friar standout Marcus Douthit to replace Rick Harris as CCRI men's basketball coach
Previous men’s basketball coaches at CCRI include Vin Cullen, who won more than 700 games and 10 regional championships in addition to taking the Knights to the national championship game in 1991 during his tenure between 1965 and 2002, and Rick Harris, who also brought CCRI to the national championship game in 2012 and won 301 games in 15 seasons before leaving in 2022.
Former Providence College standout Marcus Douthit coached the Knights for the last two seasons. In 2023-24, CCRI finished 11-10 in league play to earn the No. 6 seed in the NCJAA Region XXI Tournament.
“I’m super excited,” Romano said. “When I joined CCRI back in 2021, I didn’t expect things would line up the way they have, but everything happens for a reason and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to building the program back up. I wasn’t actively looking for a coaching role, but CCRI is a special place and has such a rich tradition of history in intercollegiate athletics in New England that when the opportunity presented itself, it was impossible to pass up.
“I never demand perfection, but I am going to demand the absolute highest level of effort from my student-athletes every day on and off the court. I want to be respected around the region for who we are as a program as well as what we accomplish in the win/loss column,” Romano said.
Romano earned a bachelor's degree from Western Connecticut State University in 2010 and a master's in education in 2012 from Marist College, where he was a graduate manager for the school’s Division I basketball program.
In 2012, he earned his first coaching job as an assistant at RIC, where the Anchormen won two Little East Conference championships to earn a spot in the Division III NCAA Tournament and appeared in the conference title game in three of his four seasons behind the bench. In his role as an assistant, Romano recruited multiple Little East All-Rookie Team and All-Conference selections, including 2012–13 All-American Tahrike Carter. The 2012–13 Anchormen finished 26-4 overall — and 13-1 in conference play — and were ranked as high as 13th in the D-III national poll.
Romano also served as the associate head coach at Bard College during the 2015–16 season, spent the 2016–17 season as the assistant coach at Hartwick College, and then served three seasons as the associate head coach at Alfred University from 2017–2020. During the 2018–19 season, Romano played a key role in Alfred’s run to the D-III NCAA Tournament — the school’s first since 1997. The Saxons’ coaching staff earned Empire 8 Conference Coaching Staff of the Year honors after leading the team to 14 consecutive wins while finishing second in the conference in points allowed (71.8) and opponent shooting percentage (42.0).
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: CCRI names Mike Romano, former assistant at RIC, men's basketball coach
