Nino Giarratano
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Anthony "Nino" Giarratano (born June 2, 1962) is a former American
college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
coach, who served as head coach of the
San Francisco Dons baseball The San Francisco Dons is the nickname of the athletic teams at the University of San Francisco (USF). The Dons compete in NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC), of ...
team from 1999 to 2022. In March of 2022, Giarratano was fired from USF due to a class-action lawsuit that three former players targeted towards him which stated that Giarratano had inappropriate sexual conduct allegations.


Early life and education

Born in
Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...
, Giarratano attended Pueblo South High School and graduated in 1980. He then attended
William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...
in
Liberty, Missouri Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to Willi ...
, earning a degree in physical education in 1985. He later added a master's degree from
Adams State College Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Adams State was founded in 1921 as a teacher's college. Billy ...
in
Alamosa, Colorado Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...
.


Coaching career

In 1989, he began his coaching career at Trinidad State, a junior college in
Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...
. In six seasons with the Trojans, Giarratano led teams to five NJCAA World Series. In 1994, Giarratano managed the
Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the c ...
, a
collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
team in the prestigious
Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...
. His Bourne team featured future major leaguers
Jeremy Giambi Jeremy Dean Giambi (; September 30, 1974 – February 9, 2022) was an American outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for four teams from 1998 to 2003, primarily the Oakland Athletics, where he was a teammate of hi ...
and
Mark Kotsay Mark Steven Kotsay (born December 2, 1975) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder. He is the manager for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San ...
. He then spent two seasons at
Yavapai College Yavapai College is a public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. History Yavapai College was established in 1965 by means of a c ...
in
Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...
. He sent 25 of his players to professional contracts before becoming an assistant at
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
in 1997. Giarratano served as hitting instructor, offensive coordinator, and third base coach and helped lead the team to the 1998 College World Series final. Giarratano moved to San Francisco to become head coach in 1999. In his time with the Dons, he has led teams to three NCAA Regionals, their only appearances in the Tournament in program history. The Dons have also claimed a pair of
West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...
championships and earned Giarratano WCC Coach of the Year honors three times. Giarratano is the program's all-time leader in wins.


Sexual conduct scandal

On March 11, 2022,
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
released an article titled ''Ex-San Francisco Dons baseball players sue Nino Giarratano, Troy Nakamura and others over alleged behavior'' alleging that head coach Giarratano and former assistant, Troy Nakamura oversaw an environment that "included persistent psychological abuse and repeated inappropriate sexual conduct." Three former USF players, filed a class-action lawsuit against Giarratano and Troy Nakamura. Going by the alias "John Doe", the former players described varying forms of abuse. They described a culture in which "it was 'normal' to see akamuranaked on the field or in a window, swinging his penis in a helicopter fashion while the entire team -- and iarratano-- watched." "John Doe 1" alleged that Giarratano referred to him using several expletives and repeatedly berated him in an attempt to pressure him to leave the program (he had a significant four-year guaranteed scholarship). He entered the transfer portal in January. "John Doe 2" outlined a pattern of verbal and emotional abuse that resulted in five emergency room visits in the fall of 2021, contributing to his decision to leave the program. "John Doe 3" said Giarratano told him he was a waste of space, that none of his teammates or coaches liked him, and said, "I wish I could take my bat and hit your head as hard as I can, and maybe I can get your brain to work," according to the lawsuit. Another former USF baseball player, Tyler Imbach described having suicidal thoughts in a public Instagram post in September of 2021 and told the
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
this week: "The USF thing definitely compounded my mental health issues. USF was a rough experience, just the way I was treated by the coaching staff. It kind of sent me over the edge." On March 13, 2022, Giarratano was fired immediately from USF. University of San Francisco Athletic Director, Joan McDermott stated, "When the university first became aware of the complaints by students and families about the environment and behavior of coaches in the baseball program, we immediately conducted an internal investigation that led to the firing of Troy Nakamura and an official reprimand of Nino Giarratano."


Head coaching record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giarratano, Nino 1962 births Living people Arizona State Sun Devils baseball coaches Cape Cod Baseball League coaches San Francisco Dons baseball coaches Trinidad State Trojans baseball coaches William Jewell College alumni Yavapai Roughriders baseball coaches Adams State University alumni Sportspeople from Pueblo, Colorado