Altadonna Named Director of Basketball Operations
Jul 03, 2003 | Men's Basketball
July 3, 2003
Manhattan, Kan. - Kansas State men's basketball coach Jim Wooldridge announced on Thursday the hiring of Chad Altadonna as director of basketball operations.
"Chad is an outstanding addition to our staff," said Wooldridge. "He brings essential experience to the position that will help carry our program forward. He comes highly recommended by some of the brightest minds in basketball, including Billy King (general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers) and Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt head coach)."
In his position as director of basketball operations, Altadonna will assist in coordinating recruiting activities for the program, running the Jim Wooldridge Basketball Camp, organizing K-State coaching clinics and overseeing the Wildcat Faculty/Staff Club. In addition, he will coordinate all team travel and oversee special projects for the basketball office.
Altadonna, 30, comes to Kansas State after a six-year stint as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Illinois State, for head coaches Kevin Stallings and Tom Richardson. During his six seasons, the Redbirds posted a 97-85 overall record with four seasons of 16 or more wins, one Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament championship and one trip each to the NCAA Tournament and NIT. He was involved in nearly every aspect of the program from recruiting to daily practice planning and scouting to conditioning. He also coordinated all video and tape exchange and was responsible for the walk-on program and managerial staff. As underclass recruiting coordinator, he helped coach and recruit two Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Year (Rico Hill - 1998; Tarise Bryson - 2001), one Freshman of the Year (Victor Williams - 1999) and one Newcomer of the Year (Tarise Bryson - 1999). He also served as the team's academic counselor where two Redbirds earned Verizon Academic All-America status and 48 student-athletes earned recognition to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll from 1997-2002. In addition to his coaching duties, he served as the director of both the Kevin Stallings and Tom Richardson Summer Basketball Camp.
In his first year as a full-time assistant in 1998, Illinois State set the school record for wins with a 25-6 overall record en route to capturing both the regular season and tournament conference titles and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Redbirds followed that season with a 16-15 mark before Stallings left to become coach at Vanderbilt. Altadonna remained on the staff under new coach Tom Richardson, where ISU posted a 21-9 mark in 2001 and advanced to the postseason NIT. The Redbirds finished 17-14 in 2002 and ranked third nationally with a 77.5 free-throw percentage. The 2003 squad led the nation in three-point shooting at 44 percent.
In all, Altadonna spent 11 years at Illinois State as a player, student and assistant coach, where he helped the Redbirds compile an overall record of 192-141 (.577) with three Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships, one tournament championship, one NCAA appearance and three trips to the Postseason NIT.
Before becoming a full-time assistant at Illinois State in 1997, Altadonna spent one season as an assistant coach at North Texas under current Kansas assistant coach and former Wildcat player and assistant coach, Tim Jankovich.
Prior to gaining his first full-time coaching position at North Texas, Altadonna was a student assistant at Illinois State for one season during the 1995-96 campaign. He helped guide the Redbirds to a 22-11 overall record and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Postseason NIT. His duties included assisting with daily practice and individual workouts and coordinating video and tape exchange.
A four-year letterman for the Redbirds, Altadonna helped ISU to a 73-45 overall record and back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference titles in 1992 and 1993 and a NIT berth in 1995 in playing for head coaches Bob Bender and Kevin Stallings. A team captain his senior year, he averaged 10.5 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting from the field with 3.6 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game en route to being named the MVC's Sixth Man of the Year. He also led the team in scoring in conference play and ranked sixth nationally with a 90.7 free throw percentage. He was coached by current Wildcat assistant Jimmy Elgas for three years, who was a student coach for the Redbirds from 1991-93.
Altadonna earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology from Illinois State in 1996.
Altadonna first came to Illinois State after a stellar four-year playing career at Centralia High School, the winningest high school basketball program in the country. He was named the team most valuable player as a senior, as he led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Altadonna takes the place of Elgas, who was elevated from director of operations to assistant coach. His duties immediately.
