ANDY YOSINOFF
There are so many superstar human beings who labor in relative obscurity.
Police, fire, nurses, emergency personnel, teachers, coaches etc. immediately leap to mind.
There are always those who work behind the scenes, either by design, by choice or due to karma.
Some gravitate toward the spotlight; others shun it.
High profile is simply what you make it, or don’t.
Meet Andy Yosinoff.
Ever hear of him?
Yosinoff is in his 47th season as Head Coach of the Women’s Basketball Team at Emmanuel College (MA).
He was also the school’s Director of Athletics for seventeen years and currently serves as an Associate AD, as well as the Department’s Business Manager and Athletic Alumni Development Liaison.
Located in the heart of Boston, the Catholic institution–founded in 1919–has 1,800 undergraduate students and 108 full-time faculty members.
Way back in the day–to the tune of 53 years ago–Yosinoff was the #1 singles tennis player at the University of Rhode Island, from where he graduated in 1970.
The team won the Yankee Conference Tennis Championship during his tenure.
In 2013 he was inducted into the URI Hall of Fame.
He is also a member of the USPTA.
While impressive, this is bubkes.
When compared to his prodigious coaching achievements.
In the 1970s, Emmanuel became the first women’s college basketball team to be ranked nationally, as well as in the top 5 in New England.
And that was just the beginning.
During the 2019–2000 campaign, Coach Yosinoff set the NCAA Division III basketball record for coaching victories.
850.
He became the 12th NCAA women’s basketball coach to achieve the milestone.
And the first D-III women’s coach to hit the mark.
In the 2000-’1 season Yosinoff led the Emmanuel Saints to its first trip to the NCAA Final Four.
This was bigger than big; he was the first coach in Boston–men’s or women’s, Division I, II or III–to make the basketball Final Four.
His team was voted the ECAC Division III Team of the Year and he was selected by his peers as the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
More than 20 years later (2022) he won the award again after guiding the Saints to a 25–2 overall record, including a 16–0 mark in GNAC action.
He moved into the Top-10 all-time for NCAA Women’s Basketball head coaching victories and was a finalist for the 2022 Red Auerbach National Coach of the Year Award, presented by the Jewish Coaches Association.
(Todd Golden of Florida was the winner).
At this writing, Andy Yosinoff has 898 wins.
There will be more to come.
Whoever heard of it?
Whoever heard of him?
Now you have.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in February 2023.]
