Fresno State Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach Fantasy Men's Basketball
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• Produced three DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team honorees, the most in program history, including Hartford’s first-ever in Corban Wroe (2013-14)
• Combined for 12 all-conference honorees, including two first team, three second team, one third team, three all-defensive team, two all-rookie team and two all-academic team members
• Guided junior Pancake Thomas to one of the finest seasons in program history in 2015-16, leading to Thomas being named Second Team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
• Led Hartford to back-to-back winning seasons in 2012-13 (17-14) and 2013-14 (17-16) for just the second time in the program’s Division I era
• Piloted Hartford to its first-ever Division I NCAA postseason tournament appearance (CIT) – 2012-13
• CollegeInsider.com America East Coach of the Year – 2012-13
• Skip Prosser Award finalist – 2012-13
• Division I school record in scoring defense (61.2 ppg) – 2012-13
CAREER BIOGRAPHY
In his six years at the helm of the University of Hartford, head coach John Gallagher has brought the Hawks to the brink of their greatest success in the Division I era, as he seeks the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
In a 2015-16 campaign that was derailed by Carroll’s season-ending injury early on, there were plenty of highlights, paramount of which was the America East Tournament first-round upset of No. 2 seed and three-time defending champion Albany, marking the only win that season over the Great Danes in their building. Additionally, Pancake Thomas had one of the top individual efforts in program history, earning Second Team All-District honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and posting the eighth-most points in Hawks history with 566. Â
The 2014-15 season saw the Hawks garner a number of individual honors, including America East co-Sixth Man of the Year Justin Graham. Senior Mark Nwakamma earned America East All-Conference Second Team honors, becoming the second player in school history to earn all-league honors all four years. Following the season, three Hawks signed professional contracts – Nwakamma (Israel), Corban Wroe (Australia) and Yolonzo Moore II (Cyprus).
The Hawks completed their second-straight winning season in 2013-14 under Gallagher, finishing at 17-16 overall while tying the program’s mark for the most Division I regular season victories. That campaign followed what is arguably Hartford’s most successful season, a stretch that featured a 17-win season capped by Hartford’s first-ever Division I postseason bid – all while boasting the 11th youngest squad in the nation – in 2012-13.
The title of 2012-13 America East Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com capped a breakthrough season for Gallagher that featured the most conference wins since 2007-08 (10) as well as the best non-league record since 1996-97 (7-6). In addition, Gallagher was a finalist for the prestigious Skip Prosser Award. Attributing to the Hawks’ success that season was their tenacity on the defensive side of the court. Holding its opponents to just 61.2 points per game, Hartford set a program Division I record while leading the America East in steals (8.2 per game) and forced turnovers (16 per game).
The Hawks have also fared well in the classroom under Gallagher, posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher to earn a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Academic Excellence Award in 2013-14. Highlighting four student-athletes who took home NABC Honors Court accolades for achieving a grade point average of 3.2 or higher was Wroe, who also garnered America East All-Academic Team honors while becoming the first-ever Hawk to earn DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team accolades.
Gallagher’s coaching resume includes 15 years of experience at the Division I level. He was named head coach in spring 2010 and is the 10th coach in the 63-year history of the University of Hartford men’s basketball program. After piloting the Hawks to the College Insider Tournament in 2012-13, Gallagher inked a new contract that will keep him as head coach through the 2017-18 academic year.
Gallagher’s hiring served as a reunion for the Philadelphia native as he previously logged two seasons as the Hawks’ associate head coach from 2006-08. Before making his return to the sidelines at Hartford, he served two seasons as an associate head coach under Glen Miller at the University of Pennsylvania. After the 2010 Final Four, Gallagher left Penn to become Steve Donahue’s Associate Head Coach at Boston College, but was released from that position when the opportunity to return to Hartford arose.
During his tenure as an assistant at Hartford, Gallagher implemented a new motion offense for the Hawks, one that resulted in a scoring average of 62.1 points per game in his first year (2006-07) and 70.8 points per game in his second season (2007-08). In the latter season, which featured a school- and league-record 312 made three-pointers, Hartford made its first-ever America East Championship title game appearance while posting a Division I record 18 wins.Â
Prior to his first stint at Hartford, Gallagher was the top assistant for Fran O’Hanlon’s staff at Lafayette College. At Lafayette, he served as the program’s top recruiter and was responsible for developing the team’s guards.
Gallagher arrived at Lafayette by way of La Salle University where he coached five seasons, two of which came under Big 5 legend Speedy Morris and the final three under Billy Hahn. He jumped right into coaching in 1999 upon graduating from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a guard for three seasons and a member of the 1996 squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Gallagher is one of four siblings in a basketball-rich family, as his sisters Ann and Joan both played college basketball at La Salle and Boston College, respectively. Gallagher and his wife, Geneva, have two daughters, Kenna and Alanna, and one son, John “Jack†Gallagher.Â
