Villa Maria College and the Vikings Athletic Department are pleased to announce the appointment of Desmond Randall to the position of Athletic Director.
Randall is currently with the College as the Say Yes Academic Coach/Student Success Coordinator, as well as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Randall took charge of the men’s basketball team in 2019. He has built a solid foundation of young talent with 5 impactful freshmen returning this season.
Throughout his career, Randall has amassed a multitude of athletic and administrative experience In 2012, he worked as an administrative assistant under New York State Senator Tim Kennedy. From 2014-2015 he worked in the Buffalo Bills organization as a Customer Service Representative before then joining Bishop Timon High School as an Academic Advisor and Head Basketball Coach in 2015. At the start of the 2017 school year, Randall made the move to West Seneca West High School and then joined the Villa Maria College Community as a coach in 2019, and then full-time staff in 2020.
As a coach, Randall’s experience goes back to 2011 when he started as a head coach for the Upstate Basketball AAU 12U and 13U teams. In 2012, he joined the West Seneca High Staff as an assistant coach for varsity football and assistant coach for the JV basketball team. In 2013, Randall became an assistant varsity coach at Canisius High School where he helped lead their basketball team to a Federation title the following year. In 2015, Randall became the head coach for Bishop Timon Varsity basketball. After going 13-12 his first year, the team won the Monsignor Martin Title (12-1) and finished 18-7 in his second year.
In 2017, Randall returned to West Seneca High School, his alma mater, and coached them to a 24-0 season, 12-0 ECIC 1 Champs, Section 6 Class A1 Champs and Section 6 overall champs before becoming far west regional runner up and finishing 24-1 overall. In 2018, the West Seneca team repeated as section class A-1 Champs.
In addition, Randall currently serves as program coordinator and head 17 and under coach for Corey Graham Elite AAU basketball program. Corey Graham Elite is the premier AAU basketball program in Western New York. They are a part of the Under Rise circuit which is one of the top national high school basket platforms in the country. Some of Randall’s Corey Graham Elite players are now playing at Texas Tech, George Mason, Buffalo and Siena among many other universities.
“Des brings passion for academic success, character development and athletic excellence to this position,” said Vice President for Enrollment and Operations Brian Emerson. “He is an experienced leader in athletics and, more importantly, he is an experienced member of the Villa Maria College community. He knows how to coach our students to success both in the classroom and in their sport. The Villa Vikings are sure to have a bright future under Des’ leadership.”
Randall’s primary focus in his new role is to grow the College’s athletic program and he understands it starts with building a brand that can compete locally.
“I think my short- and long-term goals go hand and hand. I want to become the best USCAA Division 2 athletics program in the country. That is something that takes time, but it starts with getting our program to the point where everyone in our area knows about us,” said newly appointed Athletic Director, Randall.
“When you mention another local college’s athletics, you should mention ours. I want to win the recruiting battle with all the local schools at our level for every sport Villa sponsors. If an athlete is considering them, they should consider all that Villa offers, and then we win,” he added.
Randall is familiar with what it takes to build a program and he hopes to bring those lessons to the Vikings Athletic Department.
“In my previous stops as a coach I was faced with the challenge of turning things around and I was able to get it done. I think that can be the same now as the athletic director at Villa. My mentality when I was a player, and now as a coach, has always been ‘find a way to get it done’; There are no excuses and that will be my same mentality in my new position,” Randall stated.
In the two years Randall has been at Villa, he has seen the potential the school and athletics has, to be competitive. He is motivated by the new challenge and has his sights set on making the Vikings a top program.
“I have a clear vision of where I see our program going and I will not settle for anything less. One of my motivations is seeing top programs at our level and thinking why not us?” He states. “When I look at some of the top schools and programs in the USCAA, I say to myself ‘that can be us’. Not only do I want that to be us, but I want us to be even better. That’s my motivation,” he expressed.
Randall takes over the reins from former athletic director Amanda Janosky, who played a pivotal role in the successful reintroduction of athletics to the College in 2015. Janosky also served as the head coach of the women’s soccer team, adjunct faculty, and on various academic committees.
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Viking’s scores and news by following @VillaVikings on Twitter, @villavikings on Instagram and by liking the “Villa Maria Vikings” Facebook page.
