Steve Roccaforte - Men's Basketball Coach - East Carolina University Athletics

Steve Roccaforte

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
roccafortes18@ecu.edu
Phone:
(252) 737-1272

Steve Roccaforte begins his second season as assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator at East Carolina after spending the previous four years at Virginia Tech, the last of which he served as associate head coach.

During his first season with the Pirates, Roccaforte led the efforts to construct the No. 10 ranked recruiting Class of 2019, inking four top 50 junior college prospects.

Roccaforte, known nationally as a tireless recruiter and enthusiastic floor coach, helped the Hokies earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament at-large bids in 2017 and 2018 and post three consecutive 20-win seasons (2015-18) since a five-year span that ended in 1985-86. He also helped the Hokies win 10 ACC games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since joining the conference in 2004.

Roccaforte joined the coaching staff at Virginia Tech following three years as an assistant coach at South Florida. He played a large role in USF getting a top-15 nationally ranked recruiting class for both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons and helped the Bulls advance to the round of 32 in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Consistently towards the top of the list, he was ranked as the 23rd best assistant coach in the country that season.

Prior to USF, Roccaforte was the head coach at his alma mater, Lamar University, for five seasons after serving as an assistant coach at Lamar (2003-06), Memphis (2000-03), Wyoming (1998-00), Tulane (1994-98) and Centenary (1989-94) to begin his career.

With more than 30 years of experience at the NCAA Division I level, Roccaforte has worked with some of the top coaches in the business and has recruited some of the top talent in the country. He has served under national coaches of the year in John Calipari, Perry Clark and Billy Tubbs to develop multiple nationally ranked recruiting classes.

Roccaforte helped assemble top 20 recruiting classes at six institutions, including the nation’s top-rated class at Memphis in 2001. He also aided in the construction of a pair of top 10 classes at Lamar, two additional top 15 classes at Memphis and USF and three top 25 groups at both Tulane and Virginia Tech. In total, Roccaforte has facilitated 14 top 25 units, including four top 10. According to recruiting analyst Dave Telep, Roccaforte is one of the 25 hardest-working coaches in the nation as well as one of the top 15 recruiters in the country.

Roccaforte’s penchant for recruiting was as evident as ever in 2009-10 as Lamar’s eight-player class was ranked ninth by HoopScoopOnline.com and 15th-best in the nation by Basketball Times. The class featured three of the top 15 scorers in Junior College Division I. HoopScoop.com rated Lamar’s class in 2004, the first full recruiting class with Roccaforte on staff, among the top 10 in the country.

During his career, Roccaforte has coached or signed 18 future NBA players including six-time All-Star Amare Stoudemire and Kendrick Perkins, member of the 2008 NBA Champion Boston Celtics, along with first round draft picks Dejuan Wagner, Antonio Burks, Qyntel Wood and Rodney Carney.

Roccaforte is also no stranger to postseason play, having served on the staff of eight teams that extended their seasons. He has been to a five NCAA Tournaments, two with Virginia Tech and one each with USF, Tulane, and Memphis along with NIT appearances at Tulane, Wyoming, Memphis and Virginia Tech. Tulane advanced to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden in 1996. He helped Memphis reach MSG in 2001, win the NIT title in 2002 and advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 for the first time in seven years.

In all, Roccaforte’s teams have made 11 postseason appearances with the Hokies’ 2018 NCAA appearance being the most recent.

Roccaforte was listed as one of the top four assistant coaches ready to take over their own program according to Dan Wetzel of CBS Sportsline.com and was voted the seventh-best assistant coach in the country by Basketball Times for the 2002-03 season. According to Telep, Roccaforte is one of the 25 hardest-working coaches in the nation as well as one of the top 15 recruiters in the country. Clark Francis of HoopScoop.com listed Roccaforte as the top mid-major assistant coach in the country in 2005.

Roccaforte finally got his chance to be a head coach after Tubbs resigned his post at Lamar to focus on his Director of Athletics duties in March 2006.

In his five seasons, Lamar was a sparkling 55-20 at home in the Montagne Center and guided LU to its first SLC regular-season championship in more than 20 years in his second season with an impressive 13-3 conference mark. He coached nine all-conference selections at Lamar.

The 2007-08 season featured a number of impressive streaks and great players. Among them were a 14-2 home record, a school-record six-consecutive conference road victories and the eighth-largest home crowd in school history. Lamar ranked eighth in the nation in scoring offense (81.5 ppg.) and in the top 50 in both field goal percentage (46.9) and 3-point field goal percentage (38.2).

For his efforts, Roccaforte was named the 2007-08 Southland Conference (SLC) Coach-of-the-Year by the Lake Charles American-Press newspaper and the CollegeInsider.com Southland Conference Coach-of-the-Year. Seniors Lamar Sanders and Kenny Dawkins were both named first team All-SLC, with Dawkins matching his teammate as SLC Newcomer-of-the-Year. The success of that season led to a top 25 ranking in the mid-major poll the following year. Lamar ranked 12th in the NCAA in assists at 17.3 per game, 31st in 3-pointers made per game (8.3) and 52nd in 3-point percentage (.379).

Individually, Sanders led the SLC, and ranked 12th in the NCAA, in rebounding at 9.8 rpg. The Cardinals set a new single-season school record for 3-point attempts (702) and posted the second-best mark in 3-pointers made (266).

Roccaforte’s first recruiting class as the head coach paid immediate dividends as Sanders was named SLC Newcomer of the Year and earned second-team All-SLC honors. Center James Davis was a third-team All-SLC performer, and guard Darren Hopkins was an honorable mention selection.

Academics are a high priority for Roccaforte as evidenced by the fact that Lamar’s increase in Academic Progress Rate (APR) was among the best in the country. Lamar’s APR, which is a real-time measurement of a team’s ability to stay on course and graduate, moved up 101 spots to No. 20 in the country during Roccaforte’s tenure. Nineteen of 20 seniors earned their degrees while he was the head coach as did 100 percent of the seniors at USF from 2011 to 2014.

During his four years at Tulane, the Green Wave consistently ranked among the top-25 recruiting classes in the nation and included an All-America and seven All-Conference USA selections. The final recruiting class that he helped sign was ranked eighth nationally.

Roccaforte was part of a Tulane staff that coached the Green Wave to three consecutive 20-win seasons during his tenure (1994-97). The Green Wave advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round in 1995, the NIT Final Four in 1996 and made another NIT appearance in 1997. The program also captured Conference USA Red Division titles in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

He earned his Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree from Lamar in 1989. He has two daughters, Victoria Elise and Sofia Rose, and a son, Lucien Anthony.