When Loyola University hired Michael Giorlando as their new director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Wellness, they didn’t know what type of impact he would have on the culture of Loyola’s Athletics.

It’s been five years and the Loyola community can already see the improvements he’s made to the Wolfpack Athletics.

He has been able to turn the athletics programs at the school around and begin a series of successes in women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s basketball and men’s baseball teams.

The Lady Wolfpack won two basketball Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championships and has made two appearances at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament in the past five years.

They were able to bring top-notch coaches such as Dobie Plaisance and current coach, Kellie Kennedy.

This season the men won more conference games than they did last season and Giorlando has brought in players from many regions like Bosnia and Australia, in addition to multiple states.

They won 12 conference games, the most conference victories the men’s basketball team has seen since Giorlando became head coach.

The baseball team hasn’t been as successful as the other teams; however, Gerald “Gee” Cassard more than tripled the amount of recruits in the only his second year as head coach. 

In previous years the baseball team has been fortunate enough to receive a total of three to four recruits each season but in 2008 Cassard brought   to the Wolfpack 13 freshmen and two new players.

Giorlando refuses to stop with just changing the culture of Loyola’s athletics. In the upcoming seasons, Giorlando plans to introduce a women’s tennis team, which is scheduled to begin in the fall, as well as bring back the men’s and women’s soccer programs that ended following Hurricane Katrina.

Under Giorlando, Loyola began offering athletic scholarships for students who would play on the men’s and women’s basketball teams, bringing in better players and leading to better teams and greater chances to win games.

He has also changed the criteria for high school students — recruiting only those students who show the ability to play sports and achieve academic success.

Three volleyball players, two basketball players and one cross country runner are scholar-athletes this year earning a minimum 3.5 grade point average, in addition to the 2007-2008 basketball team collectively achieving the highest cumulative GPA in the entire NAIA division.

As director, Giorlando has positively affected Loyola in numerous ways during his five year tenure — not just through his success with the basketball team.