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University of Massachusets Athletics
Marnie Dacko Named Head Women's Basketball Coach
April 11, 2002 | Women's Basketball
April 11, 2002
Quotes from coach Marnie Dacko's press conference
AMHERST, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts Athletic Director Bob Marcum announced today that Marnie Dacko has been hired as the ninth head coach in the 34-year history of the Massachusetts women's basketball program.
In 24 seasons as a Division I head coach or assistant at Wisconsin, St. John's, Northwestern and most-recently Cornell, her teams have posted an impressive 400-280 (.588) record, advancing to postseason play nine times, including six NCAA Tournament trips, and winning 20 or more games on eight occasions.
Dacko comes to UMass from Cornell (N.Y.) University, where she has spent the past seven seasons rebuilding the Big Red's women's basketball fortunes. The winningest women's basketball coach in Cornell history, Dacko watched 100 percent of her student-athletes graduate.
"We are thrilled to have Marnie take over our women's basketball program," Marcum said. "She has proven herself a winner at two successful programs in St. John's and Northwestern and has totally turned around a Cornell program that had never been anywhere but the bottom of the Ivy League. Her players have produced outstanding results in the classroom and on the court.
"She has an outstanding rapport with her players and a personality that will help sell our program," he added. "The search committee has done an excellent job in finding someone who can lead UMass women's basketball for many years to come."
She fashioned an 80-104 (.435) record on the court and directed the school to the only two winning seasons it had ever enjoyed in the Ivy League the past two years with back-to-back 8-6 marks. At the Ithaca, N.Y., school, Dacko developed 10 all-conference players, two academic all-Ivy picks, one Ivy League rookie of the year and four Ivy all-rookie team selections.
The 1978 Southern Connecticut State graduate went 12-14 overall and 7-7 in the Ivy League as a rookie head coach in 1995-96 to earn Ivy League coach-of-the-year honors. Her second Cornell team fashioned an identical overall and conference mark. After three injury-plagued seasons, her 2000-01 team won a school-record 15 games, finished in a third-place tie in the Ivy League standings at 8-6 and ranked ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense. Last year, her team went 14-13 and again went 8-6 in the Ivy to secure its highest finish in school history--second place.
-more- "I believe our women's basketball program has a very bright future with Marnie on the sidelines," said UMass associate athletic director and search committee chairwoman Elaine Sortino, who was joined on the committee by UMass Dean of Students Jo-Ann Vanin and hall of fame coach Jack Leaman. "Her enthusiasm has no bounds. But, more importantly, her knowledge, love of the game and leadership abilities really stood out through this process. Our program has tremendous potential, and I believe with Marnie's leadership and guidance we can reach it."
Dacko went to Cornell after serving as an assistant coach at Northwestern University for 11 years. At the Evanston, Ill., school, she coached 25 All-Big 10 players and 20 academic all-conference selections, one Big 10 player of the year, a Kodak All-American, a Champion All-American and a pair of Street and Smith All-Americans. The Wildcats won the Big 10 title in 1989-90 with a 24-5 record and made four NCAA Tournament appearances (1987, 1990, 1991 and 1993) during her tenure. Northwestern was 189-122 (.608) in Dacko's 11 seasons as an assistant to coach Don Perrelli.
Prior to moving to Northwestern, Dacko was an assistant basketball coach and head softball coach at St. John's (N.Y.) University from 1979-84. During her five seasons working for coach Perrelli, at the Jamaica, N.Y., school, the Express recorded a 118-43 (.733) mark, including 102 victories during the last four years when the program made four straight postseason trips, three of which were to the AIAW or NCAA national tournaments. St. John's won the Big East Conference tournament twice, and set a school record with 27 victories in 1982-83 when it captured the league's first regular season title.
She started the softball program from scratch at St. John's in 1981, and guided the program to a 39-45 mark in four seasons at the helm, including the 1982 NYSAIAW softball title.
Inducted into the Southern Connecticut State Hall of Fame in 1996, she led the Owls to a 72-27 record, four top 10 finishes and four trips to the AIAW Division I national tournament as a player. Dacko averaged team-highs of 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds as a junior, as SCSU finished 20-6 overall and sixth at the national tournament. In her senior season, the Owls went 19-11 and finished fifth at the AIAW national tournament behind her 17 points and seven rebounds per game.
In four seasons at Southern Connecticut, Dacko scored 1,306 points (14.7 ppg) and grabbed 689 rebounds (7.7 rpg). She ranks third on the school's all-time rebounding list. During her senior season, she was a finalist for the prestigious Margaret Wade Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top women's basketball player. Upon graduation, she ranked as the top scorer and rebounder in school history.
While basketball was her main focus at Southern Connecticut, she also earned three letters in softball and two in volleyball. After graduating from Southern Connecticut State, Dacko began her collegiate coaching career at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant coach in 1978-79.
In the summer of 1993, Dacko served as an assistant coach for the Big 10 all-star squad that toured Australia and New Zealand. She was the head coach of the North Shore women's open team at the 1988 Prairie State Games, and directed the Carol Blazejowski Basketball Camp in Montclair, N.J., from 1982-86. Dacko has served as co-director of the Calvin Murphy (Hamden, Conn.), Pocono Invitational (Pocono, Pa.), Pine Tree Clinic (Waterville, Maine) and Connecticut Girls (Fairfield, Conn.) basketball camps.
A graduate of Trumbull (Conn.) High School, Dacko was a 1990 inductee into the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and is a member of the Trumbull High School Hall of Fame, too.
Marnie Dacko's Year-by-Year Head Coaching Record
---Overall--- -----Conference-----
Year School W-L Pct. W-L Pct. Place Postseason
2001-02 Cornell 14-13 .519 *8-6 .571 2nd (T)
2000-01 Cornell *15-12 .556 *8-6 .571 3rd (T)
1999-00 Cornell 11-15 .423 3-11 .214 8th
1998-99 Cornell 11-15 .423 5-9 .357 6th (T)
1997-98 Cornell 5-21 .192 2-12 .143 7th
1996-97 Cornell 12-14 .462 7-7 .500 4th
1995-96 Cornell 12-14 .462 7-7 .500 5th (T)
Seven-Year Totals 80-104 .435 40-58 .408
Marnie Dacko's Year-by-Year Assistant Coaching Record
---Overall--- -----Conference-----
Year School W-L Pct. W-L Pct. Place Postseason
1994-95 Northwestern 14-14 .500 9-7 .563 4th
1993-94 Northwestern 17-10 .630 9-9 .500 6th
1992-93 Northwestern 20-9 .690 13-5 .722 4th NCAA (1-1)
1991-92 Northwestern 17-10 .630 10-8 .556 4th
1990-91 Northwestern 21-9 .700 12-6 .667 4th NCAA (1-1)
1989-90 Northwestern 24-5 .828 15-3 .833 1st (T) NCAA (0-1)
1988-89 Northwestern 11-17 .393 6-12 .333 6th (T)
1987-88 Northwestern 13-14 .481 8-10 .444 5th
1986-87 Northwestern 20-10 .667 12-6 .667 3rd NCAA (1-1)
1985-86 Northwestern 16-12 .571 6-12 .333 8th
1984-85 Northwestern 16-12 .571 10-8 .556 5th
1983-84 St. John's %24-6 .800 5-3 .625 3rd (T) NCAA (0-1)
1982-83 St. John's %27-6 .818 7-1 .875 1st (T) NCAA (0-1)
1981-82 St. John's 25-7 .781 No Conference Record AIAW (0-1)
1980-81 St. John's 26-8 .765 No Conference Record EAIAW (2-1)
1979-80 St. John's 16-16 .500 No Conference Record EAIAW (0-1)
1978-79 Wisconsin 13-11 .542 No Conference Record
*Denotes school record for overall or conference victories. %Indicates conference tournament champion.
