BUFFALO, NY – On Friday, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York announced the 2017 New York State Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, which included storied coach, local basketball ambassador, and current Villa Maria head coach and Athletic Director Don Silveri.
Silveri becomes the 10th coach from Western New York history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He also becomes the second Villa Maria Coach to be inducted, joining current women’s basketball assistant coach Sister Maria Pares, making Villa the only Western New York program to have two coaches in the Hall of Fame. Sister Maria was inducted back in 2012. The 2017 class consists of nine other coaches and two contributors to basketball in New York State.
Silveri took over at Villa in 2014 when the College decided to re-institute it’s athletic program. Serving as the Athletic Director, and Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Silveri has built the Villa program from the ground up as the program and school have taken major strides in the last two years. The school currently has eight sport offerings with plans to add more in the coming years.
Silveri has posted an overall college coaching record of 591-409 while at Erie Community College, Buffalo State College, Daemen College, and a previous stint at Villa. His first coaching job came at Villa Maria College exactly 40 years ago in 1976. After spending four seasons at Villa, he moved on to Buffalo State College where he was an assistant coach to Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Famer Dick Bihr. In both of his seasons with the Bengals, they captured State University of New York Conference Championships.
In 1983, Silveri moved on to Erie Community College where he coached until 1986. In that time he led the Kats to three Empire State Conference Championships and three appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament. He was also named Conference Coach of the Year three times and was selected as an assistant coach for the United States East Team that participated in the Olympic Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, LA in 1985. He was an assistant for Lou Carnasecca of St, John’s University.
In 1989, Silveri took over at Daemen where he posted numerous records and grew the athletic department as the Athletic Director and Basketball Coach. He recorded an overall record at Daemen of 414-344 and posted nine 20-win seasons in the process. He also had a knack of recruiting and maturing young talent. He coached five Junior College All Americans, eight NAIA All Americans, and three USCAA All Americas.
He recorded four consecutive 20-win seasons from 2002-06 and five Conference Championships (99-00, 03-04, 05-06, 11-12, 13-14). The Wildcats advanced to the NAIA Elite Eight in 2003-04 under Silveri’s leadership and finished the season 24-10 and ranked 21st nationally. He recieved five Conference Coach of the Year awards and was the Independents Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year during 2012-13 season. Silveri recorded 500th career victory on February 18, 2010 against Point Park 99-86. He was inducted into the Daemen College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Silveri earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with a permanent certification in history and physical education from SUNY Brockport in 1970 and a Master of Science Segree in Student Personnel Administration from Buffalo State College in 1982. He played baseball and basketball at Niagara County Community College from 1966-68 and Brockport 1968-70.
Silveri will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 25th, 2017 as part of the New York State Federation Basketball Tournament. The ceremony will be held at Heritage Hall in the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY. More details on the induction ceremony and the Hall of Fame itself can be found HERE.
