Vince Nicastro, Director of Athletics

Vince Nicastro enters his 10th year as the Villanova University Director of Athletics in 2009-10.

As the Director of Athletics, Nicastro is responsible for leading a Villanova Athletics Department that is committed to excellence both in competition and in the classroom. The broad-based Wildcat athletics program is comprised of 24 men's and women's varsity sports and over 500 student-athletes. In addition, club sports and an extensive intramurals and recreation program fall under the auspices of the Athletic Department. Villanova is a member of the Big East Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference.

In his nine seasons at the helm, Nicastro has overseen significant success in the key areas of intercollegiate athletics, and the 2008-09 academic year was one of the University's best in recent memory.

Villanova finished 2008-09 ranked 56th in the NACDA Directors' Cup, a program which recognizes a school's across-the-board success in athletics. The ranking was Villanova's highest since 2003-04 and ranked the Wildcats third among non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Nine different teams advanced to national postseason play during the past year, including the men's basketball team advancing to the Final Four while making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The women's basketball team returned to the NCAA Tournament, while the men's lacrosse team won its first-ever CAA title and played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The football team made its first playoff appearance since 2002 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division I Football Championship. In addition, the men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams continued to realize success on the national scene.

Under Nicastro's stewardship, the men's basketball program is one of just three in the nation to advance to the Sweet 16 in four of the past five seasons. The Wildcat women's soccer team has participated in five of the last eight NCAA Tournaments, including a 2003 Sweet 16 berth. The women's basketball program has tallied 20 wins or more in six of the last nine seasons en route to earning a postseason bid in nine of the last 10 years, including a visit to the Elite Eight in 2003. The football team reached the NCAA I-AA semifinals in 2002 and Brian Westbrook earned the Walter Payton Award in 2001.

In his tenure as Director, Nicastro has been instrumental in the growth of the V Club annual fund program, which achieved an unprecedented level of contributions in 2008-09. Nicastro has also overseen the planning and development of numerous major gifts for endowments and facility upgrades to benefit Villanova Athletics. The most recent capital undertaking is the Davis Center for Athletics & Fitness that serves as a state-of-the-art practice facility for use by the men's and women's basketball programs and greatly improves the recreational and fitness offerings for the campus community. The $18.7 million facility, which opened in November of 2007, represents the largest capital project in University history to be funded entirely through donor support. Other facility upgrades under Nicastro's watch include the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth Meeting; a new softball complex; the Villanova Stadium Turf Replacement; the installation of a new track in Villanova Stadium, new track & field throwing sectors and numerous team locker room enhancements.

Achievement in the classroom has also remained a priority under Nicastro's leadership. During the 2008-09 academic year, Villanova student-athletes posted a 3.089 grade point average - the 12th consecutive semester with a composite GPA above 3.0, while achieving exemplary graduation rates. Also in 2008-09, 314 Wildcat student-athletes registered a 3.0 GPA or better, including 130 with a 3.5 or better and 13 with a perfect 4.0 GPA. In the four-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR), Villanova earned an overall APR of 986 which is in the top 10% in the country. In addition, Villanova had seven varsity teams receive 2008-09 NCAA Public Recognition Awards for their APR and all 24 Wildcat athletic programs scored well above the NCAA minimum APR standard.

Those beyond the Villanova zip code have taken notice. U.S. News and World Report listed Villanova as one of the Top 20 athletic programs in the nation in 2003. In 2004, Villanova was recognized as the top program in the Big East Conference in a study conducted by the Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas A&M. In its first presentation of the Excellence in Athletics Cup, Villanova was cited for success in areas including NCAA postseason success, graduation rates, gender equity position and operating efficiency.

In 2003, Nicastro oversaw the second cycle of the NCAA's re-certification of Villanova University Athletics. He has also guided the University's implementation of a comprehensive Title IX compliance program which has increased opportunities for female student-athletes and enhanced resources for Villanova's women's programs. Nicastro joined the Villanova Athletics Department in 1994 when he was hired as the school's Director of Ticket Operations. He was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director in 1997, and then elevated to the position of Associate Athletics Director soon thereafter. As an Associate Athletics Director, he was responsible for overseeing the department's administrative functions, including business operations, personnel and staffing and the sports medicine and strength/conditioning programs.

On his path to the Director's office, Nicastro served as the designated sport administrator for many of Villanova's men's and women's varsity programs, working closely to plan and develop all aspects of their sport's programs. Nicastro also coordinated Villanova's summer camp programs and the department's information technology issues.

Nicastro has also been active both inside and outside the University, serving on many key committees. He is a member of the Villanova University President's Cabinet and is a member of the University's Administrative Budget Committee, which plays a key role in crafting the University's operating budget and making recommendations for strategic investments. Nicastro has been a member of the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference Executive Committee and is on the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Sports Congress as well as the Board of Advisors for the Florida Atlantic University Sports Management Program and is a board member of the National Sports Marketing Network Philadelphia Chapter. He also formerly served as the Chair of the Big East Conference Athletic Directors Executive Committee, the Big East Conference Championships and Competitions Committee, the Big East Conference Finance Committee, and as a member of the Big East Television Committee which negotiated the most comprehensive media agreements in the league's history. Nicastro has also served as a member of the Gatorade Athletic Director Advisory Board. A 1987 graduate of Bloomsburg University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting, Nicastro earned his MBA from St. Joseph's University in 1994. Nicastro and his wife Liz reside in Drexel Hill, Pa., with their nine-year old twin sons, Jake and Casey.