Paul Molinari (pronounced "mall-in-are-ee), a 27-year coaching veteran at the Division I and Division II levels, has been named an assistant coach on the Youngstown State University men's basketball staff, Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun announced on Tuesday.
He joined YSU after five seasons as associate head coach on Calhoun's staff at Fairmont State from 2012-17. During his time at Fairmont State, Molinari helped the Falcons to a five-year record of 124-38, four NCAA Tournament appearances and at least 20 wins each season.
"Paul brings a lot to the table with more than 25 years of coaching," Calhoun said. "He's worked with Coach (Rollie) Massimino and Gregg Marshall. He was a huge key to our success at Fairmont State. He's kind of a jack-of-all-trades. Not only is he great in recruiting, but in preparation, scouting and on-the-floor coaching."
Last season, he helped Fairmont State to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, a school-best record of 34-3, its first conference championship in 21 years with a mark of 21-1 and received its first NCAA Division II No. 1 ranking since 1976. The program also won 30-or-more games for the first time since 1974-75. Senior Matt Bingaya was named NABC Division II First-Team All-American and earned All-Mountain East Conference First-Team honors.
In 2015-16, the Falcons had two post players earn Mountain East Conference postseason honors and FSU ended the season with a 25-5 overall record, earning a bid to their third NCAA Tournament in four seasons. The Falcons recorded four-straight 20-win seasons since Calhoun and Molinari took over the program back in 2012.
A native of Oneonta, N.Y., Molinari spent nine seasons at Winthrop from 2003-12. Molinari was a part of Marshall's staff for five seasons, and as an assistant for Randy Peele the last four years. 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.
Molinari spent seven seasons (1996-2003) as an assistant at Cleveland State. In 2000-01, the Vikings went 19-13, their best mark in a 14-year span.
From 1994-96, Molinari was an assistant coach on Scott Thompson's staff at Wichita State. 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.
He obtained a bachelor's degree from Villanova in 1990 majoring in business administration and a master's degree from Kent State in 1991 majoring in sports administration.