Joe Cantafio

Background

Cantafio was born on April 6, 1952 in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, and attended Dunmore High School.

Education

He attended college at the nearby University of Scranton and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in history.

Career

Cantafio spent a total of eleven seasons as a head coach, with the Virginia Military Institute (1986–1994) and Furman University (1994–1997). A graduate of the University of Scranton, Cantafio is vice president of The Blewitt Foundation, an organization that supports military families, as well as an assistant director at the Center for Sports Leadershipfor for Virginia Commonwealth University. Cantafio played on the school"s basketball team for three years and was captain of the team as a senior.

He also lettered in baseball and received an National Collegiate Athletic Association Postgraduate Scholarship from Scranton.

Cantafio began coaching immediately following his graduation from Scranton, joining Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1974. He led the Crusaders for four seasons in which he posted a 91–25 record at the school.

Cantafio then spent one year with Abington Heights High School in his home state of Pennsylvania. In his three years under Wootten at DeMatha Catholic, the Stags went 83–9.

In 1982, Cantafio left for an assistant coaching job at the Virginia Military Institute where he worked under his predecessor Marty Fletcher for four seasons.

Following Fletcher"s departure, Cantafio assumed the position of head coach and led the Keydets for eight years. He never earned a winning season at Virginia Military Institute, though he did lead the 1987-1988 team to the Southern Conference tournament finals. Cantafio was unable to gain success with Furman as he led the Paladins to a 30–47 record in three years.

He announced in February 1997 that he would resign at the end of that season.

He noted that he was tired of coaching, and said that, "As I was watching, it just dawned on medical There"s a lot more to life than basketball." Cantafio also stated that he was unable to relax while coaching, and that some Furman boosters and alumni were not happy with the team"s progress.

Membership

He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Following a 13–15 campaign at Abington Heights, Cantafio then joined DeMatha Catholic High School as an assistant where he served under legendary Morgan Wootten (who has the second most wins as a head coach in the history of basketball on any level and is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame).

Connections

foe:

Southern Conference