Villa Maria College head men’s basketball coach Don Silveri was inducted into the New York State Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame on Sunday morning as the winner of more than 600 career games at the college level was part of a 12-member 2017 class.
Silveri was honored during a ceremonial brunch on Sunday morning at the Glens Falls Civic Center where the Hall of Fame members plaques and achievements are displayed. Silveri was one of two college coaches inducted as part of the 2017 class and has eclipsed the most victories of anyone in this year’s class.
Surrounded by family, friends, former and current staff, coaches and players, Silveri became the second coach from Villa Maria to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The late Sister Maria Pares was inducted in 2012 for her many years of excellence in the basketball at Sacred Heart Academy, Canisius College and Marquette University. Sister Maria finished her coaching career at Villa Maria.
“They say you’re only as good as the people around you; and I’ve been blessed,” Silveri said during his remarks on Sunday. “I’ve had great people around me; great coaches, great players – who made this honor possible. 600 wins and all of that is great, but the reason for success is, I’ve always cared for my players, and if you care for your players, they trust you. And if they trust you, they’ll work hard for you. That’s been the key.”
Silveri has quite possibly the best coaching resume of anyone to every grace the sidelines in the history of New York State basketball. He most recently led the Vikings to their first postseason appearance at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Tournament in just the program’s second season. Prior to the last two seasons at Villa where he built an entire athletic department from scratch, Silveri served as head coach for men’s basketball at Daemen College for 25 years, while spending 12 of those years as Director of Athletics. Under his guidance, Daemen’s athletic department expanded from two sports to a full 14-sport program, and the men’s basketball team collected over 400 wins including five conference championships and five national tournament appearances. In October of 2016, Silveri was elected to the New York State Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Prior to his time at Daemen, Silveri was the head men’s basketball coach at Erie Community College, leading the Kats to NJCAA national tournament three times in his four year tenure. He spent 1980 to 1982 working under local coaching legend Dick Bihr at Buffalo State College, and was head coach of Villa’s men’s basketball team from 1976 to 1980. Silveri is Western New York’s winningest coach, with 609 career collegiate victories and receiving six NAIA Division II conference “Coach of the Year” awards.
You can read more about Don’s accomplishment in the Buffalo News: http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/26/silveri-gets-hall-of-fame-honor.
