CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
· Led Hartford to back-to-back winning seasons in 2012-13 (17-14) and 2013-14 (17-16) for just the second time in the program’s Division I era
· Piloted Hartford to its first-ever Division I NCAA postseason tournament appearance (CIT) – 2012-13
· CollegeInsider.com America East Coach of the Year – 2012-13
· Skip Prosser Award finalist – 2012-13
· Division I school record in scoring defense (61.2 ppg) – 2012-13
· Combined for nine All-Conference honorees, including two First-Team, one Second Team, one Third Team, two All-Defensive Team, two All-Rookie Team and one All-Academic Team members
· Produced Hartford’s first-ever DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team honoree in Corban Wroe (2013-14)
CAREER BIOGRAPHY
In four seasons at the helm of University of Hartford men’s basketball, John Gallagher has developed a youthful squad into one of the top programs in the America East Conference. Coming off a pair of record-setting years featuring Hartford’s best result in back-to-back seasons, Gallagher is determined to bring his veteran team where the Hawks have never been before in 2014-15: to the NCAA Tournament.
The Hawks completed their second-straight winning season in 2013-14 under Gallagher, finishing at 17-16 overall while posting the program’s second-most most Division I wins. That campaign followed what is arguably Hartford’s most successful season, a stretch that featured a 17-14 season capped by the program's first-ever Division I postseason bid – all while boasting the 11th youngest squad in the nation – in 2012-13.
The title of 2012-13 America East Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com capped a breakthrough season for Gallagher that featured the most conference wins since 2007-08 (10) as well as the best non-league record since 1996-97 (7-6). In addition, Gallagher was a finalist for the prestigious Skip Prosser Award that season
Attributing to the Hawks’ success that season was their tenacity on the defensive side of the court. Holding its opponents to just 61.2 points per game, Hartford set a program Division I record while leading the America East in steals (8.2 per game) and forced turnovers (16 per game).
The Hawks have also fared well in the classroom under Gallagher, recently posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher to earn a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Academic Excellence Award in 2013-14. Highlighting four student-athletes who took home NABC Honors Court accolades for achieving a grade point average of 3.2 or higher was Corban Wroe, who also garnered America East All-Academic Team honors while becoming the first-ever Hawk to earn DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team accolades.
Collectively, the men’s basketball team’s hard work in the classroom has paid off as it has been a recipient of the NCAA Public Recognition Award the last three years. In addition, the squad has contributed greatly to helping Hartford Athletics claim three-straight America East Academic Cup Championships (2012, 2013, 2014).
Player development has also been a hallmark of Gallagher’s during his time at Hartford. This year’s six-member senior class – Gallagher’s first recruiting class as head coach – has shown character and determination. Despite an 0-13 mark to start their careers in Gallagher’s second season (2011-12), the sextet has helped steer the program to back-to-back winning seasons, a feat that has only happened one other time since Hartford made the jump to Division I for the 1984-85 campaign.
Nwakamma, a 1,000-point scorer who is en route to surpassing 500 career rebound mark, has continued to be one of the top players in the conference under Gallagher. In 2013-14, he was named to the America East All-Conference First Team for the second-straight season to become the first-ever Hawk to earn a pair of first-team nods from the league.
In addition, Gallagher helped groom guard Yolonzo Moore II into a floor general for the squad while helping Corban Wroe emerge as a top player for the Hawks. This past season, Wroe increased his scoring average by 3.5 points per game, took home America East All-Defensive Team honors to go along with becoming the first Hartford player to nab DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team honors.
Midway through the season, Wes Cole emerged as a regular starter for the Hawks. Finishing the season ranked as one of the top three-point shooters in the league, Cole boosted his offensive numbers by the end of his junior season, converting on 78 shots from long range, seventh-most in a single season at Hartford. Furthermore, he currently ranks fourth in the all-time record books in career three-pointers with 191.
Gallagher’s coaching resume includes 15 years of experience at the Division I level. He was named head coach in spring 2010 and is the 10th coach in the 63-year history of the University of Hartford men’s basketball program. After piloting the Hawks to the CIT Postseason Tournament in 2012-13, Gallagher inked a new contract that will keep him as head coach through the 2017-18 academic year.
Gallagher’s hiring served as a reunion for the Philadelphia native as he previously logged two seasons as the Hawks’ associate head coach from 2006-08. Before making his return to the sidelines at Hartford, he served two seasons as an associate head coach under Glen Miller at the University of Pennsylvania. After the 2010 Final Four, Gallagher left Penn to become Steve Donahue’s Associate Head Coach at Boston College, but was released from that position when the opportunity to return to Hartford arose.
During his tenure as an assistant at Hartford, Gallagher implemented a new motion offense for the Hawks, one that resulted in a scoring average of 62.1 points per game in his first year (2006-07) and 70.8 points per game in his second season (2007-08). In the latter season, which featured a school- and league-record 312 made three-pointers, Hartford made its first-ever America East Championship title game appearance while posting a Division I record 18 wins.
Prior to his first stint at Hartford, Gallagher was the top assistant for Fran O’Hanlon’s staff at Lafayette College. At Lafayette he served as the program’s top recruiter and was responsible for developing the team’s guards.
Gallagher arrived at Lafayette by way of La Salle University where he coached five seasons, two of which came under Big 5 legend Speedy Morris and the final three under Billy Hahn. He jumped right into coaching in 1999 upon graduating from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a guard for three seasons and a member of the 1996 squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Gallagher is one of four siblings in a basketball-rich family, as his sisters Ann and Joan both played college basketball at La Salle and Boston College, respectively. Gallagher and his wife, Geneva, have two daughters, Kenna (5) and Alanna (3) and recently welcomed their first son, John “Jack” Gallagher, in August 2013.
