Hall of Fame
John Coffino is the definition of a basketball lifer. As a student-athlete at WCC, he played under Hall of Fame Coach Ralph Arietta for the 1991-1992 season. One year later he was given the opportunity to join the legendary coach’s staff. He first joined the team as an assistant and by the time he left the program he was promoted to Associate Head Coach. He was instrumental in helping to lead the WCC Hall of Fame 1996 team to the National Championship Tournament. That year the Vikings finished with a 27-7 overall record and the program recorded their 1000th overall win for Westchester Men’s Basketball.
Coffino then moved on to coach several Division I colleges including Iona College, Niagara University and Saint Peter’s College. At Iona, he helped propel the Gaels to the 97-98 MAAC Championship and to a NCAA National Tournament bid. In 2001, the St. Peters finished as the MAAC regular season champions.
After spending years at the collegiate level, John moved into professional basketball, coaching 3 years as both an assistant and then head coach in the NBA D-League (now G-League). At various points during his long career, he also served as an NBA scout.
Coffino’s coaching pursuits then took him international. For the last 15 years he has coached in various countries around the world including Qatar, Kenya, Republic of Georgia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, China, Spain and Ireland….just to name a few. In 2018 he was named as the National Coach of the Republic of Maldives, where he led his team to the Gold Round of the Southeast Asia region, which is a qualifier for the Olympic Games. In between, he has coach at several basketball academies including IMG Academy, 4A Sports Academy, Prestige Worldwide and Florida Coastal Prep.
His level of commitment to providing opportunities through the sport of basketball is rivaled by very few. He has coached countless high-level athletes and with many famous coaches. Through all of it, he has never forgotten his roots. You can find him checking in with WCC Sports whenever he is back home. In 2023, he even returned to WCC to serve as the Physical Education Technician. But before long, the basketball coaching world came calling and he was off to his next international professional coaching stint.
Coffino was born and Raised in the Bronx. He earned his Associate’s degree in Pre-Pharmacy from WCC and then a Bachelors Degree in Social Science from St. Peters University. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
