Tubby Smith Basketball Camp Staff

Camp Director Joe Esposito

Joe Esposito joins Tubby Smith’s Gopher staff as the Director of Basketball Operations. He handles all administrative duties of the Golden Gopher basketball program. Esposito spent the past season as the head coach at The Villages Charter High School in Florida where he recorded the best record in school history and advanced The Villages to the Class 3A District 7 Final Four. In addition, Esposito was a computer science teacher at the school.

Prior to The Villages Charter School, Esposito was the head coach at Angelo State for eight years. Esposito recorded 118 wins in those eight seasons and left the school with the highest winning percentage of any coach in the program’s history. In 2000-01, the Rams advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in 10 years and only the third time in school history. Angelo State won the Lone Star Conference South Division Championship with a 22-8 record which tied the highest single-season win total in school history. In addition, Esposito was voted LSC South Coach of the Year in 2001.

In 2002, Esposito led the team to their fourth consecutive winning season, the first time ASU had posted four straight winning seasons since the 1980s. In just four seasons, Esposito led the Rams to three of the top five single season win totals in school history and three straight post-season berths. In 2003, ASU posted their fifth winning season in a row, a mark only matched one other time in the history of the program. He left the program as one of the winningest coaches in Lone Star Conference history.

In his first season at Angelo State in 1999, Esposito posted the best turnaround in Division II by any rookie head coach, improving the Ram record by seven victories and having the first winning season since 1994. In his second year, he took the Rams to the Lone Star Conference Tournament and a win over nationally-ranked Midwestern State. The 2000 team posted a 19-win season, which was the second-best record in school history, surpassed only by Esposito’s 2001 team that won 22 games.

During the summer of 2005, Esposito was selected to coach the USA team for America Sports International, a team of NCAA Division II all-stars. The team competed in the Gianni Ernesto Cup, taking home the gold medal.

Esposito’s relationship with Coach Smith dates back to his tenure as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Tennessee State. For three seasons (1995-98), Esposito was responsible for recruiting three Ohio Valley Conference Freshmen of the Year to TSU and both his 1996-97 and 1997-98 recruiting classes were ranked among the top 30 in the nation by Hoop Scoop. He also served as the academic counselor for the Tigers.

Before his tenure at Tennessee State, Esposito was the interim head coach at Assumption College, an NCAA Division II powerhouse in the Northeast-10 Conference for half a season. Esposito also served as an assistant and then associate head coach for Assumption, prior to assuming temporary head coaching duties in 1994.

During his tenure at Assumption, the Greyhounds won three straight conference titles, appeared twice in the NCAA Division II regionals and set records for wins and winning streaks at the school. Esposito also has served as an assistant coach at Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park, N.Y., and was a student assistant at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. His coaching resume also includes a stint as an assistant coach at the Bay State and Empire State games.

A native of New York, Esposito received his bachelor of science degree in computer science in 1988 from Marist College. He earned a master of science in sports administration and coaching from the United States Sports Academy in Mobile, Ala., in 1990.

Esposito has two sons, Jordan Michael (12) and Jacob O’Neal (8), and a daughter, Shay Lynn (6).

ESPOSITO AT A GLANCE

Born
September 21, 1966

Hometown
Bronx, N.Y.

College
B.S. Marist, 1988
M.S. United States Sports Academy, 1990

Family Sons, Jordan, Jacob; Daughter, Shay

Coaching Experience

1988-95 Assistant Coach
Assumption College

1995
Head Coach
Assumption College

1995-98
Associate Head Coach
Tennessee State

1998-2006
Head Coach
Angelo State

2006-07
Head Coach
The Villages Charter HS (Fla.)

2007-pres.
Director of Operations
Minnesota