Paul Culpo begins his fifth season as head coach of the Hartwick College men's basketball team.
Culpo took the reins of the program in 2001, and was charged with rebuilding a program that has made 15 NCAA tournament appearances and advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1988.
Culpo's coaching experience includes stops at all levels of college basketball, and a stint coaching professional basketball overseas.
He has developed a reputation as an outstanding recruiter, who has found quality players at all levels of basketball.
"I want to recruit highly competitive, mentally-tough student athletes," said Culpo. "At Hartwick we want to get good players, help them to improve, and play unselfish basketball as a team."
Before coming to Hartwick, Culpo spent two years as a member of Steve Lappas' staff at Division I University of Massachusetts.
Culpo was in charge of the daily operations of the program, which included duties and responsibilities related to recruiting, finance and travel. In addition, he assisted with the operations of the Steve Lappas Basketball School.
Before his stint at UMass-Amherst, Culpo was the head coach of the Doncaster Panthers of the National Basketball League in England. He led the squad to a sixth-place finish in the 14-team professional league, and guided the Panthers to the NBL Playoffs.
Along with his experience working with Lappas, Culpo has had several successful collegiate coaching stints at St. Michael's, Union, UMass-Boston and Genesee, and worked under some top-notch head coaches.
Culpo spent three years as an assistant at Division II St. Michael's College in Vermont, where he helped the Purple Knights to three consecutive post-season appearances, including a NCAA Tournament bid in 1999 as the team posted a 25-9 record, and to an ECAC Title in 2000 as the team finished 20-9.
In 1995-96, he was an assistant coach at Genesee Community College (Batavia, N.Y.) under Bill VanGundy, the father of NBA head coaches Jeff Van Gundy (NY Knicks and Houston Rockets) and Stan Van Gundy (Miami Heat). That team posted a 28-4 record and was ranked as high as 16th in the nation in the NJCAA poll.
At UMass-Boston Culpo served as an assistant under longtime coach Charlie Titus, who has been named one of the top 10 young leaders in Boston, and who has been honored for his work with the NBA's Boston Summer League. UMass -Boston advanced to the ECAC tournament with players recruited by Culpo.
As a player, Culpo flashed signs of basketball aptitude at an early age, as he was a state and regional free throw shooting champion at age 9, competing in the national championships at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
In high school, Culpo led St. Joseph's High School (of Pittsfield, Mass.) to its first-ever state title as a senior.
He played two years of basketball at NCAA Divison II St. Michael's College, where he shot 96 percent from the foul line as a sophomore.
Culpo graduated cum laude from St. Michael's with a bachelor of arts in American studies, and earned a master's degree in creative and critical thinking in education from UMass-Boston in 1996. Culpo and his wife, Kathleen reside in Otego and have three children; son, Jac, and daughters, Theresa and Helen.
