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Legendary Basketball/Baseball Coach
Dom Rosselli
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 In his 39 years as
the head men’s basketball coach at
Youngstown State University, Dom
Rosselli coached in 977 basketball
games and won an impressive 60
percent of those contests. But
besides coaching on the hardwood, he
was also the Penguins’ baseball
coach for 27 years and was an
assistant football coach for almost
20 years. So to say the least he was
a busy man.
His main success was on the basketball court where he
finished his tenure on the YSU
sideline with an overall record of
589-388. He began his YSU coaching
career in 1940 after graduating from
Geneva College in 1939. He coached
the Penguins for two seasons before
World War II duty as a Captain in
the U.S. Air Force took him off the
court and overseas.
Upon his return from the war, Rosselli was very involved in
YSU athletics. Rosselli returned to
full-time duty on the basketball
court as soon as he returned from
the war.
He was an assistant coach on the football team before the war
and when he returned in 1946 he
returned to his assistant’s position
until 1963. He took over the Penguin
baseball program and was the coach
from 1948-50. In 1958, he was back
with the Penguin baseball team and
for the next 24 years was a fixture
in the dugout. His YSU baseball
coaching record was 418-219 (.656
winning percentage), including two
NAIA District Championships and
three appearances in the NCAA
Playoffs.
All totaled as a head basketball and baseball coach Rosselli
had a 1,007-607 record.
A Youngstown area native, basketball was his passion.
In his 39 years, YSU had eight 20-win seasons, 26 winning
seasons, won 19 postseason games,
appeared in four NAIA National
Tournaments and nine NCAA Regional
Tournaments. Rosselli earned
accolades for his efforts as well
begin named the NCAA Division IV
Coach of the Year, Ohio College
Coach of the Year in 1957 and 1964
and the Italian Coach of the Year in
1958.
When he retired following the 1982 season, he was ranked 10th
in NCAA history in lifetime
collegiate victories. He recorded
the second-most wins in NCAA
Division II history in coaching 39
seasons.
His most successful run as the Penguins’ mentor came from
1962 through 1972. In those 10
seasons, YSU never won fewer than 17
games and did not lose more than
nine contests. Four of his eight
20-win years came during that span
as he owned a coaching record of
197-67.
In 1963-64, Rosselli had his most successful regular season
as the Penguins won a school-record
24 games finishing with a 24-3 mark.
Twice YSU advanced to the Elite Eight of the NAIA National
Tournament in 1956-57 and 1957-58.
Both times the Penguins won their
first two games before losing in the
quarterfinals.
Rosselli’s area lore began when he was a quarterback at Rayen
High School in the early 1930’s.
After graduating he was a standout
football and basketball player for
Geneva College. In 1939 he earned
his degree from Geneva and came to
Youngstown College in the fall of
1940.
That first year at YSU he was an assistant on Dwight Beede’s
football staff and Ray Sweeney’s
basketball staff. Rosselli and Beede
first teamed up at Geneva where
Beede was the head football coach. |
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