Tom Palombo Appointed Director of Athletics
Tom Palombo has been appointed director of athletics after holding the position on an interim basis, Vice President for Enrollment Services Randy Doss announced Sept. 2. Palombo, who also serves as men’s basketball coach, assumed the interim role last September upon Marion Kirby’s retirement.
“Over the past 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 as director of the Quaker Club since the summer of 2004. He teaches in the Sport Studies Department and coordinated game management responsibilities for home football and men’s soccer games from 2003-07.
Palombo serves on the NCAA South Region Advisory Basketball Committee and chairs the Men’s Basketball Coaches Committee for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
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 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.
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.
Sept. 3, 2008