Court Sense: Winning Basketball's Mental Game
John Giannini, PhD,is the head men's basketball coach at La Salle University, which competes at the Division I level in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He has led La Salle to its best Atlantic 10 record in school history.  Giannini accepted the job at the Philadelphia-based school in 2004 after a successful eight-year stint at the University of Maine, where he became the winningest men's basketball coach in the school's history and turned the Black Bears into a perennial force in the America East Conference. Prior to that, Giannini amassed a remarkable 168-38 record in 7 seasons as head coach at Rowan University. He also brought a Division III national championship to the Glassboro, New Jersey, school and was named Coach of the Year.Giannini's collegiate basketball career began as a player at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He continued his education through graduate school and in 1992 earned a doctorate in kinesiology with a specialization in sport psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at Illinois he served as a graduate assistant coach for two years, including the 1989 season when the Fighting Illini made it all the way to the Final Four.Coach Giannini applies many innovative motivational, communication, and instructional techniques with his players. As a result, his teams have been known for their effort, teamwork, and attention to the fundamentals.Giannini, his wife, Donna, and their two daughters reside in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.