Tom Palombo Named Athletic Director at Guilford College

Greensboro, N.C. — Guilford College Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life Randy Doss ’82 announced Tom Palombo will serve as the school’s athletic director Tuesday. Palombo, who also serves as the Quakers’ head men’s basketball coach, assumed the position on an interim basis last September upon Marion Kirby’s retirement.

Tom Palombo Tom Palombo

“Over the last year Tom has proven he is a skilled administrator, trusted by coaches and others on campus and can balance coaching and administration,” Doss said. “We are confident he can lead our athletic program to even greater heights.”

Now in his sixth year at Guilford, Palombo served as an assistant athletic director with responsibilities for budgeting in 2006 and has served as director of the Quaker Club since the summer of 2004. He teaches in Guilford’s Sport Studies Department and coordinated game management responsibilities for home football and men’s soccer games from 2003-07. Palombo on the NCAA South Region Advisory Basketball Committee and chairs the ODAC’s Men’s Basketball Coaches Committee.

As a coach, Palombo has guided Guilford to a 91-47 record in five seasons and owns a 191-110 mark in 11 years as a college men’s coach. In 2007-08, the Quakers won their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men’s basketball title and earned their second straight NCAA Division III Tournament berth. The previous season Guilford enjoyed its best men’s basketball record in more than 30 years (24-5) and reached the Division III quarterfinals in its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Palombo was named the 2007 South Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D3hoops.com and the ODAC’s Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year (for the second time). Four Quakers have earned All-ODAC honors seven times under Palombo’s guidance, including Ben Strong ’08, the 2007 NCAA Division III Player of the Year.

A 1989 Virginia Wesleyan College graduate, Palombo came to Guilford after nine years at Defiance (Ohio) College where he coached the men’s basketball team for six years and the women’s squad for three years. He also directed the golf and tennis teams and taught in the physical education department.

Palombo received his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in sport management from Old Dominion University in 1991 and returned to Virginia Wesleyan as its women’s basketball coach, softball coach, and sports information director. He and his wife, Amy, live in Greensboro with their four children.

One thought on “Tom Palombo Named Athletic Director at Guilford College

  1. I am glad to see that Tom was named A.D. He can do the job, I’m sure. What this does do is lock him in with an extra salary along with his basketball salary, which for G.C.’s future in basketball is a REAL good thing! Now, this season will be a challenge due to the loss of the stud-Ben Strong and others. In coaching and life there is always something to challenge you.

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