Tom Abatemarco (pronounced Ah-bait-ah-Marco) is entering his 3rd season as an assistant coach with FGCU in 2017-18 and his 43rd overall year in the profession.

In 2016-17, Abatemarco helped FGCU post a 26-8 record, matching the program’s Division-I single-season wins record and securing the first single-digit loss campaign in the D-I era. The Eagles set a D-I program record for regular-season wins with 23, and finished the ASUN slate at 12-2 for a program-best .857 winning percentage.
 
Those 12 wins were enough for FGCU to claim its first outright ASUN regular-season title in program history (second overall; shared in 2013-14), and followed it up with a second-straight ASUN Tournament Championship. The Eagles played their sixth NCAA Tournament game in five seasons after receiving a program-best No. 14 seed and fell just short to No. 3 seed Florida State – the second-tallest team in the nation in 2016-17 – 86-80.
 
FGCU set single-season D-I program records in points per game (79.4), field goal percentage (.499, 5th in the nation), free-throw percentage (.702), assists per game (15.5), scoring margin (+10.1) and rebound margin (+5.4). FGCU led the country in points in the paint per game (41.3) and finished 3rd in the nation with 159 dunks – 11 more than the original Dunk City Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.

In Abatemarco's first season with the Eagles in 2015-16, FGCU won its second Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Championship in four years. FGCU won its third NCAA Tournament game in four years with a 96-65 victory over 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in the First Four – with the 31-point margin of victory in that round of the tournament being the largest in NCAA history.
 
The Eagles would go on to face top-seeded North Carolina in the First Round and trailed by just one at halftime, 41-40, before falling to the Tar Heels in Raleigh, 83-67.
 
After finishing tied for 2nd place in the A-Sun regular season with an 8-6 record, FGCU received the 4th seed in the A-Sun Tournament and won three games in six days – including a 33-point rout at top-seeded North Florida in the semifinals – to win the title.

An assistant coach at Tulsa in 2014-15 and Loyola Marymount in 2013-14, Abatemarco’s experience includes time on both the collegiate and professional levels, covering 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Elite Eight trips and an NCAA Championship.

Abatemarco was an assistant coach at NC State from 1982-86, helping lead the program to one of the biggest upsets in tournament history when it won the NCAA Championship under the late-Jim Valvano. During his tenure with the Wolfpack, he recruited and signed 5-7 sensation Spud Webb, who is the shortest player to ever win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and one of the three smallest players in the NBA since he made his debut in 1985.

Abatemarco was instrumental in recruiting and coaching a number of other collegiate stars who went on to professional careers, including Nate McMillan, Vinny Del Negro and Chucky Brown of NC State; Maryland’s Buck Williams and Adrian Branch; Kevin Williams of St. John’s; Dell Curry of Virginia Tech (father of Steph Curry) and Lamar’s Adrian Caldwell.

Prior to his time at Tulsa and LMU, Abatemarco spent three years on the coaching staff at the University of Colorado, his second stint with the Buffaloes. In three seasons on Tad Boyle’s staff, the Buffaloes posted back-to-back 24-win seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and a 21-win season in 2012-13. In the 2011-12 campaign, Abatemarco helped Colorado earn its first NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years, upsetting No. 6 UNLV in the Second Round.

Before arriving in Boulder, Abatemarco – who has also made three NIT appearances in his coaching career – served a brief stint with the Sacramento Kings as a player personnel and scouting coach. In addition, he spent seven years as a broadcaster with the Kings. Abatemarco also served as an assistant coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBDL during its inaugural 2008-09 season.

Abatemarco served as an assistant coach in the WNBA with the Sacramento Monarchs from 2003-09. In six years with the Monarchs, he guided the team to the 2003 and 2004 WNBA Western Conference Finals, before winning a conference championship in 2005. The Monarchs reached the WNBA Finals again in 2006, falling in the championship series.

In addition to his head coaching stints at Lamar (1986-88), Drake (1988-90) and Sacramento State (1996-00), Abatemarco’s college coaching experience also includes time at Utah (2004-05) under the late-Rich Majerus and Rutgers (1994-97). He spent three seasons at CU under Jim Harrington from 1991-94.

He also coached at Virginia Tech (1981-82), at Maryland under Lefty Driesell (1979-81), under Lou Carnesecca at St. John’s (1978-79), Davidson (1977-78), Iona (1975-77) and the New York Institute of Technology (1974-75).