Paul Molinari is in his fifth season as Associate Head Coach on Jerrod Calhoun’s staff at Fairmont State. Last season, the Falcons had two post players earned Mountain East Conference postseason honors and the Falcons ended the season with a 25-5 overall record, earning a bid to their third NCAA Tournament in four seasons. The Falcons have also recorded four-straight 20-win seasons since Calhoun and Molinari took over the program back in 2012.
Southern Miss transfer Matt Bingaya earned first team All-MEC honors and was named an all-region performer by both the CCA and the NABC in his first season with the Falcons. Thomas Wimbush also earned second team all-league honors after going over 1,100 points for his career during his senior season. Both players return this season for the Falcons.
FSU was also ranked for 15-consecutive weeks in the national rankings, including 14 weeks in the top 10 of the NABC poll. The Falcons were ranked as high as No. 2 in the country last season.
Two seasons ago, the Falcons earned a bid to the NCAA Atlantic Regional at West Liberty and advanced to the finals of the Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament. Post players Nick Harney and Thomas Wimbush each earned All-MEC honors a season ago and Harney was named first team All-Atlantic Region.
Three seasons ago, Molinari helped lead the Falcons to their second-consecutive, 20-win season and the Falcons earned a trip to the MEC Semifinals as the fourth seed in the tournament. FSU had three players earn second team All-MEC honors following the 2013-14 season, including Wimbush, who earned league Freshman of the Year honors.
During the 2012-13 season, Molinari helped lead the Falcons to the biggest single-season turnaround in school history. The squad also made an appearance in the WVIAC Tournament Championship game for the first time in 28 years and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament.
In his first season in Fairmont, Molinari helped develop senior center Isaiah Hill into a second-team, all-league performer.
Molinari has a key role in the coaching and development of post players at Fairmont State.
While at Winthrop, Molinari helped develop Mid-Major All-America center Craig Bradshaw, and also coached several players to conference all-league, all-tournament and all-freshman honors.
In addition to his on-court responsibilities, Molinari is also responsible for the academic monitoring program at Fairmont State. A staunch believer in the true student-athlete, 25 of 26 four-year players graduated from Winthrop during Molinari’s tenure.
Molinari has also made an impact on recruiting in the short time he has been on the FSU basketball staff. Since Calhoun and Molinari arrived at Fairmont State, the Falcons have acquired four highly-regarded recruiting classes.
Before arriving at Fairmont State, Paul Molinari was an integral part of winning programs at the Division I level for more than two decades.
Molinari was recognized by collegeinsider.com as one of the top Mid-Major assistant coaches in Division I. With 343 wins on Division I basketball staffs from Las Vegas to Philadelphia, and 418 victories including his time as a student manager at Villanova, Molinari’s hands-on, student-centered approach has enabled his teams to reach seven NCAA Tournaments and earn four berths in the NIT.
“Having Paul here is almost like having a second head coach,” said Calhoun. “He coached me, and in my time playing for Paul I came to realize that he really cares about the players. We want to see them succeed academically, and Paul works very hard to ensure that happens.
“On the court, Paul is great. He is as good at coaching post players as you’ll find anywhere, especially at our level,” continued Calhoun.
A native of Oneonta, N.Y., Molinari most recently spent nine seasons at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. As a part of Gregg Marshall’s staff for five seasons, and as an assistant for Randy Peele the last four years, Molinari worked with the big men for the most successful program in Big South history. In his nine years with the program, Winthrop won the conference tournament title five times earning bids to the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons. In 2006-2007, the Eagles finished 29-5, were ranked 22nd in the nation, and upset Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That year Molinari and the Eagles were featured in The New York Times, USA Today and Sporting News. Molinari also coordinated team travel to Europe twice and Australia once for summer team bonding and development.
Prior to his stint with Winthrop, Molinari spent seven seasons as an assistant at Cleveland State University. In addition to being the third program Molinari worked under NCAA Championship winning coach Rollie Massimino, it is also where he met and helped mentor Calhoun, who was then an undergraduate. The 2000-2001 Vikings went 19-13, their best mark in a 14-year span.
Between 1994-1996 Molinari worked on Scott Thompson’s staff at Wichita State University as a full-time assistant coach. The Shockers won 13 games in his first season, which marked the school’s second-most wins during a seven-year run, and included a 10-4 record at home at Koch Arena. Prior to that, Molinari spent two seasons as video coordinator at UNLV with Massimino. Led by Isaiah Rider, the fifth overall pick in the 1993 and future NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Runnin’ Rebels went 21-8 in 1992-93 and earned a trip to the NIT.
As an undergraduate at Villanova, Molinari spent four years as a student manager under the direction of Coach Massimino while earning a degree in Operations Management. During that time he assisted the coaching staff as the Wildcats reached two NCAA Tournaments, including one run to the Elite Eight in 1988, and two NIT berths. He went on to join Jim McDonald’s staff as a graduate assistant coach where he earned a master’s degree in Sports Administration. He returned to Villanova in the 1991-92 as a graduate assistant as the Wildcats reached the NIT in coach Massimino’s final season of a 12-year career that included one of the greatest upsets in sports history as Villanova defeated Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas in the 1985 NCAA title game.
