2008 Woodie Awards
Molinari's the man
Jim Molinari accepted the Western Illinois men's head coaching position Thursday night
Ryan Ferguson
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports
Exactly 30 days after receiving Derek Thomas' resignation, Western Illinois Athletics Director Tim Van Alstine has selected a new men's basketball coach.
Jim Molinari accepted an offer to become the new head coach of the Leatherneck basketball team and will be formally introduced at an 11 a.m. press conference Friday.
"This is a great hire. Coach Molinari is a coach who will fit in very well to our department, our campus and our community," Van Alstine said. "He's an Illinois guy down to the core, and we're thrilled to get him. He brings with him a long resume of Division I success and he is excited to be here.
"And we are excited to be able to hire our top choice."
Molinari spent last season as an assistant at Ball State. Prior to that, he served as a head coach at schools such as Northern Illinois and Bradley in addition to holding interim head coach status at Minnesota during the 2006-2007 season.
He compiled records of 42-17 at Northern and 176-150 at Bradley.
Jim Molinari accepted an offer to become the new head coach of the Leatherneck basketball team and will be formally introduced at an 11 a.m. press conference Friday.
"This is a great hire. Coach Molinari is a coach who will fit in very well to our department, our campus and our community," Van Alstine said. "He's an Illinois guy down to the core, and we're thrilled to get him. He brings with him a long resume of Division I success and he is excited to be here.
"And we are excited to be able to hire our top choice."
Molinari spent last season as an assistant at Ball State. Prior to that, he served as a head coach at schools such as Northern Illinois and Bradley in addition to holding interim head coach status at Minnesota during the 2006-2007 season.
He compiled records of 42-17 at Northern and 176-150 at Bradley.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Mitch
posted 4/10/08 @ 10:18 PM CST
I am very happy for both Mo and WIU. Coach Molinari is a class act in every way. He will be a great addition to Western, run a clean program, and have success on the court. (Continued…)
Tom
posted 4/11/08 @ 12:43 AM CST
Great hire. Maybe there is hope for the Mens basketball team.
Neck_Fan
posted 4/11/08 @ 10:04 AM CST
Great hire for WESTERN. Molinari runs a clean program and gets his players graduated. 2008-2009 will be the beginning of great things for the WESTERN basketball program. (Continued…)
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