Anthony Bozzella returned to his alma mater as the head women's basketball coach prior to the 2013-14 season. In 11 years at the helm, Bozzella has turned the program around completely and reached the postseason eight times with two NCAA Tournament appearances. He holds the best winning percentage in modern program history by a wide margin and has built a program that figures to compete for the top spot in the BIG EAST year-in and year-out.
Bozzella's team would've made the post-season in 2020, but the entire national post-season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His team would've also qualified for the WNIT in 2021, but opted not to participate for pandemic safety precautions. If not for the pandemic, Bozzella'sPirateswould've made the post-season in 10 of 11 years in South Orange.
In his 11-year tenure at Seton Hall, Bozzella holds an overall record of 207-142. His 32-year head coaching career record sits at 513-460.
Last season, Bozzella's Pirates qualified for the postseason for a third straight year, this time receiving at at large bid for the inaugural WBIT. In a season that featured several highlights, those that stand out were The Hall's 84-54 trouncing of No. 23 UNLV on Dec. 16, and Bozzella's 500th career victory, recorded on Nov. 22 against East Carolina in the Bahamas. Bozzella also saw players Kae Satterfield and Azana Baines represent their countries in international play. Baines went on to represent Team USA in several events and capped her year by being invited to play at the prestigious Women's College All-Star Game.
Bozzella's Pirates reached the postseason in 2022-23, collecting 19 wins including a victory in both the BIG EAST Tournament and the 2023 WNIT. The Pirates defeated a pair of ranked teams for the first time since the 2015-16 season, downing No. 24 Marquette and No. 24 St. John's. Lauren Park-Lane became the first Pirate to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team in three consecutive seasons and broke Seton Hall's career assists record by a wide margin.
Although slowed by significant COVID-19 postponements and cancelations, Bozzella's 2021-22 squad played a program-record 37 games and engineered one of the great turnarounds in recent memory. After finishing the first half of the BIG EAST portion of their schedule with a 3-7 record, the Pirates closed the season with wins in 16 of their final 19 games, which included a run to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament, and a thrilling drive to the National Championship of the WNIT. Combined, Seton Hall's nine postseason games are by far the most in program history. Under Bozzella, Park-Lane burst onto the national scene, leading the nation in total assists and minutes played. Park-Lane, Cooksand Andra Espinoza-Hunter all netted All-BIG EAST honors.
Despite an extended stay in the hospital due to contracting COVID-19, Bozzella turned in one of his finest coaching performances during the pandemic-stricken 2020-21 season. Picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST, he navigated the Pirates through three COVID-19 pauses to a 12-5 conference final record and a No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. It was only the fifth time in program history that Seton Hall won as many as 12 games in conference play. For the first time in program history, Seton Hall landed three players on the All-BIG EAST First Team, Espinoza-Hunter, Park-Lane and Desiree Elmore. Park-Lane was named BIG EAST Most Improved Player.
Before the Coronavirus prematurely ended Seton Hall's season in 2020, the Pirates were steamrolling towards its sixth post-season appearance in the last seven years. Bozzella guided The Hall to 19 overall wins and 11 victories in the BIG EAST, both the most since the 2015-16 season. The Pirates nearly upset top-ranked DePaul, falling 83-80, in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship in Chicago, a day after routing fifth-seeded Butler in the quarterfinals. Showing his continued recruiting prowess, freshman Mya Jackson was named to the All-Freshman Team.
During the 2018-19 season, Bozzella mentored Shadeen Samuels into the second BIG EAST scoring champion school history and the league's Most Improved Player. Samuels was also a First Team All-BIG EAST pick on a squad that reached the WNIT for the second-straight year.In 2017-18 the Pirates finished 16-16, earning a home game in the 2018 WNITfor their fourth postseason bid in five seasons. On Jan. 14 against Georgetown, Bozzellaearned the 400th victory of his collegiate coaching career.
The 2016-17 season saw a pair of Pirates earn major individual honors, as Kaela HIlaire was a unanimous All-Rookie selection and JaQuan Jackson picked up an All-Met Second Team nod. The Pirates finished seventh in the BIG EAST, matching their preseason projection despite the graduation of four starters and nearly 80 percent of their scoring from a season prior. The Hall also won a game in the BIG EAST Tournament for the fifth-straight year.
Always willing to do anything in support of the growth of women's basketball, Bozzellatook part in a historic television event on Dec. 30, 2016. For The Hall's rivalry game against St. John's, Bozzellaand SJU head coach Joe Tartamella were "Mic'd Up" for the duration of the nationally-televised broadcast. The endeavor was featured in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press as Bozzella'ssideline antics were center stage during a 63-59 victory.
In the 2015-16 campaign, Bozzella followed the winningest season in program history with yet another NCAA Tournament bid. The Hall went 23-9 and finished second in the BIG EAST with a 12-6 record, despite a preseason projection of fifth. Tabatha Richardson-Smith became SHU's all-time leading scorer under Bozzella's tutelage and won the first BIG EAST scoring title in program history. Richardson-Smith was one of three Pirates along with Aleesha Powell and Shakena Richardson to earn All-Conference accolades following the season, while Richardson became the first WNBA Draft Pick in program history.
Seton Hall won a program-record 28 games in 2014-15, earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, its first invitation to the Big Dance since 1995. The Pirates went 15-3 in the BIG EAST, finishing the regular season as Co-BIG EAST Champions for the first time in program history, and as the No. 1 seed advanced to the conference championship game for the first time since 1995.
Bozzella was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, won the Maggie Dixon Division I Coach of the Year award presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, and was one of 10 finalists for the Naismith Division I Women's College Basketball Coach of the Year award. All of that success further translated to individual accolades. Seton Hall boasted a pair of First-Team All-BIG EAST performers (Ka-Deidre Simmons and Daisha Simmons) for the first time in its history, and with Tabatha Richardson-Smith named Second-Team All-BIG EAST the Pirates had three All-Conference members for the first time. Ka-Deidre and Daisha Simmons were named Honorable Mention All-Americans, the first time a pair or Pirates received that distinction in the same season.
In 2013-14 Bozzella led the Pirates to a 20-14 overall record and a berth to the WNIT. The postseason appearance was just the sixth in program history and the first since 2007, and The Hall advanced to the third round of the tournament for the first time. Instituting a player-friendly fast-paced offensive style, Bozzella's squads have posted three of the top-five scoring seasons in program history, with the 2014-15 team netting a record 2,569 points.
A 1989 graduate of Seton Hall University, Bozzella is the fourth women's basketball coach in Seton Hall history. He brought 21 years of collegiate head coaching experience to South Orange, spending the previous 11 seasons at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he resurrected the Gaels' program into a perennial contender in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Over his final eight seasons at Iona, Bozzella's impact really began to take shape. During that stretch he posted a 138-116 overall record, reaching three MAAC title games and earning four WNIT berths over a seven-year span. With a 20-13 overall record in 2012-13, Bozzella recorded his third 20-win season at Iona, reached the MAAC championship game for the third time and guided the Gaels to their fourth WNIT appearance. He coached a pair of MAAC Players of the Year, saw four of his players earn MAAC Rookie of the Year accolades, and had 21 players named All-MAAC from 2006-13.
Bozzella's 85-56 record in the MAAC over his final seven seasons at Iona was the second best mark in the league. He was named the Co-MAAC Coach of the Year in 2005-06, when he guided the Gaels to their first winning season in 23 years, tying for third place in the MAAC standings before advancing to the semifinals in the conference tournament. Exceptional academic achievement was a trademark for Bozzella during his tenure at Iona. He boasted a 100 percent graduation rate for all the players he recruited in addition to seeing 64 student-athletes earn MAAC All-Academic honors.
The Iona women's basketball program boasted a perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in five of his last six seasons and received four-straight NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards.
Prior taking the reins at Iona, he commandeered an amazing turnaround in just two years at the head coach at LIU Brooklyn. There he coached a team that had not posted a winning record in 21 years to the Northeast Conference championship in just his first season, earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Bozzella received his coaching start at Southampton College of Long Island University. In a similar fashion to the way resurrecting programs would come to define his career, Bozzella took over a program that never had a winning season and turned them into a consistent winner. It took him just three seasons to guide Southampton to the first winning record in program history and that started a streak of six-straight winning campaigns, culminating with a program-record 20-9 season in 1999-00.
Bozzella and his wife, Maria, met at Seton Hall University and have been married for 32 years. They currently reside in West Orange, N.J., and have two children, Samantha, 28, and Joseph, 24.
THE BOZZELLA FILE
- Led Seton Hall to the NCAA Tournament in 2015, its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1995, and the third in program history
- Followed that with another NCAA Tournament bid in 2015-16,finishing second in the BIG EAST despite the graduation of four starters from the '14-15 squad
- Guided Seton Hall to the WNIT National Championship Game in 2022, leading The Hall to a 24-13 record and 16 wins in their final 19 games
- Has earned a postseason bid in eight of 11 seasons at Seton Hall, with WNIT berths in 2014, 2018,2019,2022 and2023, sandwiching two NCAA bids (COVID-19 prevented postseason bids in 2020 and 2021) - they played in the inaugural WBIT in 2024
- Earned his 500th career head coaching victory on November 22, 2023
- Named the 2015 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, the Maggie Dixon Division I Coach of the Year, and named one of 10 finalists for the Naismith Division I Women's College Coach of the Year award.
- Guided Seton Hall to the first regular season BIG EAST title in program history and the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time
- His SHU teams have posted four of the top-five scoring seasons in program history, scoring a record 2,569 points in 2014-15
- Has mentored 21 All-Conference performers and a pair of Honorable Mention All-Americans in 10 seasons
- Saw Shakena Richardson become the first WNBA Draft Pick in program history following the 2015-16 campaign, going to the Dallas Wings in the third round
- Seton Hall went 20-14 in 2013-14, qualifying for the WNIT for its first postseason berth since 2007, while advancing to the tournament's third round for a first time
- Stresses academic success, with the Pirates placing a program-record 13 members on the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team in 2016
- Has turned every program he has ever been around into a perennial contender for a conference title and postseason berth
- Took an Iona program that was mired in 20-straight losing seasons and went to the postseason five times, reaching the MAAC title game on three occasions
- At Southampton, he took a team that never had a winning record and guided them to six-straight postseason appearances
- Guided LIU Brooklyn to the NEC Championship and the NCAA Tournament in just his first season despite inheriting a program that had never posted a winning record prior to his arrival
