Former New York police detective transformed program while coaching greats like Sue Bird, Chamique Holdsclaw.
Legendary
Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) girls basketball coach Vincent Cannizzaro died Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 82.
The New York State Basketball Hall of Fame coach helped transform and elevate the girls game beginning in the 1980s, coaching greats like Sue Bird and Chamique Holdsclaw along the way. He led Christ the King to 456 wins in 19 seasons, grabbing 12 N.Y. State Catholic titles and 10 straight New York State Federation crowns.
"He changed the whole landscape of high school girls basketball," Bob Mackey, an assistant to Cannizzarro and current Christ the King coach, told MaxPreps on Monday. "He changed the way girls were coached and viewed. Vinny took teams and traveled. ... We coached them just as hard as the boys. He would say 'There's no difference, you just coach the game.' We all owe him something."
He was among the pioneers on the girls side to take his team out of state in search of national competition. His Christ the King teams won three national championships by USA Today.
"He started us out right away with better competition," Lisa Cannizzaro told the Post. "That very first year we traveled to Boston on a very low budget to play a team from there. He started changing the culture of high school basketball even back then."
Mackey said beyond the generational talent like Bird, Holdsclaw and Tina Charles, Cannizzaro was proud of being able to transform the lives of so many young women.
"He was like a second father to a lot of girls in the program." Mackey said. "I can't tell you how many wedding he and Carol (his wife) have gone to."
In recent years, the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona renamed its highest division in honor of Cannizzaro. Mackey said he believes Cannizzaro belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
"If you look at some of the pioneers of the game, Vinny did that on the girls side," he said. "He helped take it to a whole different level that allowed the game to progress at the college level and that led us to the women playing professionally."
He is survived by his wife, Carol, three children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
