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Administration
John D’Argenio – Director of Athletics
John D’Argenio was appointed director of athletics on April 21, 1993, after serving as the acting director of athletics for the 1992-93 academic year. Since the appointment, many new initiatives have been set forth and much progress has been made in the athletic department. The department’s first academic advising
office was created and a full-time advisor was hired to work with all of Siena’s student-athletes. The academic office has been responsible for implementing a tutoring program, developing educational programming and producing a student-athlete popula- tion whose combined grade-point average is higher than that of the general student body. In recent years, Siena’s student-athlete graduation rate has ranked among the best in the country. In the NCAA’s inaugural graduation success rate announced in 2006, Siena student athletes finished 5th among all Division I schools. The department has ranked in the top-10% nationally in each of the subsequent reports. As part of the College’s efforts to address gender equity, the
women’s sports programs have expanded immensely in the past 15 years.With the addition of golf, women’s swimming and diving, women’s water polo and the elevation of lacrosse fromclub to varsity status, Siena now sponsors 11 Division I women’s sports. In 1996 D’Argenio was instrumental in negotiating Siena’s agree-
ment with the County of Albany and Times Union Center (formerly Pepsi Arena) to move all of the College’s men’s home basketball games to the downtown facility. The move to the state-of-the-art downtown Albany facility culminated in Siena and the Arena signing a five-year contract and most recently a four-year extension. Since the move, both the men’s and women’s basketball programs have seen their attendances soar to the top-80 nationally. Since themove to the Arena, Siena has also made major strides in the marketing of its programs. An active corporate partnership program has emerged on the heels of the 1996 decision that includes over 45 local and national businesses. Athletic Development giving has increased over the past 15
years as well. Saints Alive!, the department’s athletic development organization, was initiated in 1998 to formalize and bring structure to the department’s fund raising efforts and its membership has grown each year since. Over $400,000 was raised during the 2008-2009 budget cycle through Saints Alive!, and distributed directly to services that benefit the College’s student-athletes. Siena teams have enjoyed conference-wide as well as regional
and national success. In 2008-2009 four sports teams captured MAAC Championships, highlighted by the men’s basketball team’s memorable run to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament after an upset of Big Ten power Ohio State. The Saints’ volleyball team won its fourth straight MAAC title in the fall of 2008 and men’s lacrosse captured its first MAAC Championship in the spring. The
women’s golf program won the MAAC for the ninth straight season in 2009. Volleyball advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, falling to California, whilemen’s lacrosse played in its first NCAA Tournament, bowing at eventual National Champion Syracuse. Athletic success has been a constant for the past 15 years under
D’Argenio’s supervision. In 1994 the men’s basketball team advanced to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals at Madison Square Garden. The Saints made their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009, after capturing their fourth MAAC title since 1999. The women’s basketball team has captured seven regular-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles, and in 2001 advanced to its first NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Saints have played in three postseasonWNIT’s as well, advancing as far as the round of 16 in 1998. Siena has registered eight MAAC volleyball championships and four MAAC baseball titles during D’Argenio’s tenure. The women’s soccer program has consistently finished in the upper echelon of the MAAC after post- ing the nation’s eighth most improved season in 2001 and the 10th most improved season in 2008. The women’s tennis team won the MAAC in 2006 and men’s lacrosse is a program on the rise as evidenced by its perfect MAAC campaign this past spring. All totaled the Saints have won 29 MAAC championships under D’Argenio’s direction. Siena’s athletic facilities have been dramatically enhanced in
the last 15 years. In 2007, the department debuted an artificial turf facility that serves as the home field for the field hockey and lacrosse programs. The College hosted the 2008 MAAC Men’s Lacrosse and MAACWomen’s Soccer Championships in the beautiful new facility. In 2004, the Callanan Field House was expanded. The expansion features four team rooms as well as the Turchi Theater, a 32-seat room equipped with the latest in digital editing and presentation equipment. In the summer of 2008, Siena enhanced its academic study center, providing a first rate facility for student-athletes to pursue their academic goals. In 1995, D’Argenio served as Tournament Director for the
NCAAMen’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds at Knickerbocker Arena. He again assumed those duties in March of 2003, as Siena served as the host institution for the men’s bas- ketball East (Albany) Regional at Pepsi Arena after co-hosting the NCAA wrestling National Championships in March of 2002. The Saints have hosted numerous NIT andWomen’s NIT games as well, including a remarkable six in 2003. Prior to his appointment to director of athletics, D’Argenio
served as Siena’s sports information director from 1985-1992. D’Argenio served out his final year on the NCAADivision I
Baseball committee in 2008 and is amember of theMAACmarketing and finance committees. He also serves as chair of theMAAC base- ball committee and is amember of the board for theAlbany County Convention and Visitors Bureau andAlbany Sports Foundation. D’Argenio earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University
of Dayton in 1982 and a master’s of science degree from North Dakota State University in 1985. He is a native of Rome, N.Y.
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