The results are in. A champion has been crowned. Here are the full results of MAAC Madness: Coaches Edition.
Play-In
No. 12 Carly Thibault-Dudonis vs No. 13 Donny Lind
Two young basketball coaches open the tournament. Thibault-Dudonis has quickly made history as the Fairfield women’s head coach in just three seasons. The Stags won back-to-back MAAC titles and set a program record of 31 wins in 2023-24.
Lind won a MAAC championship in his first season leading the Mount St. Mary’s men’s team and his first season as a head coach. A Shaka Smart disciple, Lind pushed the Mountaineers to be a tough, defensive squad that made a Cinderalla run in Atlantic City this season.
Winner: Carly Thibault-Dudonis
First Round
No. 8 Fran McCaffery vs No. 9 Ken Norton
Two more basketball coaches meet up in the first round. Fran McCaffery coached the Siena men’s program in the early 2000s, having four 20-win seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances. The Saints won two tournament games and had a 112-57 record during the McCaffery Era.
Norton coached the Manhattan men for 22 years in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, becoming the winningest coach in program history with 310. His Jaspers made the Sweet 16 in 1958, defeating Jerry West and West Virginia in the First Round.
Winner: Fran McCaffery
No. 7 Rick Pitino vs No. 10 Ron Anderson
Former Iona men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino dominated the matchup to advance to the second round. Pitino quickly made the Gaels a formidable mid-major and made two NCAA Tournaments in three years.
He defeated Merrimack men’s hockey coach Ron Anderson, who led the Warriors for 15 years, including an undefeated 1987 season, going 22-0.
Winner: Rick Pitino
No. 6 Mike Nofri vs No. 11 Tom Petroff
We have our first upset! Rider baseball coach Tom Petroff pulled off the stunner in a tight vote. He won 65% of his games from 1961 to 1970 and brought the Broncs to their only College World Series appearance in 1967.
He defeated Sacred Heart football coach Mike Nofri, who worked his way to head coach 13 years ago after starting on the staff in 1994. Nofri has won five NEC championships and got the Pioneers to their first national ranking in 2014.
Winner: Tom Petroff
No. 5 Mike Rappl vs No. 12 Carly Thibault-Dudonis
CTD returns to the second round to face Canisius softball coach Mike Rappl. Rappl led the Golden Griffins for 35 years, winning 13 MAAC titles and earning 11 NCAA appearances. Rappl was the first coach to reach 800 MAAC wins.
Winner: Mike Rappl
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Tricia Fabbri vs No. 8 Fran McCaffery
McCaffery advanced to the quarterfinals to take on Quinnipiac’s Tricia Fabbri. Fabbri is the longest-tenured women’s basketball coach, winning seven regular season titles since arriving in 1995. The Bobcats are consistently a top team in the MAAC, making five tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2017.
Winner: Tricia Fabbri
No. 4 Mike Granelli vs No. 7 Rick Pitino
Pitino matched up against our only dual coach in the field, Mike Granelli of Saint Peter’s. He coached both the men’s soccer and women’s basketball teams for several decades beginning in 1970. His 163 soccer wins is the most in program history and he continued that success on the court. The Peacocks won nine MAAC tournaments over his 32-career and became just the third coach to win 600 games at one school.
Despite those successes, Pitino comfortably won this matchup to advance to the semifinals.
Winner: Rick Pitino
No. 3 Brian Giorgis vs No. 11 Tom Petroff
Petroff faced legendary Marist women’s basketball coach Brian Giorgis. In 21 seasons, Giorgis won 11 MAAC tournaments and 14 regular-season titles. Marist won five NCAA Tournament games, including a second-round win to make the Sweet 16 in 2007. Petroff came up against a buzz-saw.
Winner: Brian Giorgis
No. 2 Joe Mihalich vs No. 5 Mike Rappl
Rappl looked to add another upset to the tournament against Joe Mihalich, who led Niagara men’s basketball for 14 seasons. Mihalich accumulated 265 MAAC wins, the most of any coach at the time and won four regular season championships with the Purple Eagles.
Niagara consistently competed under Mihalich with just two losing seasons and four 20-win campaigns. All of that was not enough to defeat Rappl, who advances to the semifinals, knocking off the higher seed.
Winner: Mike Rappl
Semifinals
No. 1 Tricia Fabbri vs No. 7 Rick Pitino
Pitino potentially rode the wave of career success rather than Iona’s success to reach the MAAC semifinals, but the voting speaks for itself. He now faces the top-seeded Fabbri, one of the legends of MAAC basketball still coaching Quinnipiac at an elite level.
In this heavyweight fight, Fabbri pulled ahead by the slimmest of margins and held on to advance to the MAAC Madness final.
Winner: Tricia Fabbri
No. 3 Brian Giorgis vs No. 5 Mike Rappl
Rappl got the short end of the stick, taking on the Marist representative in the field. While Rappl’s career achievements are no small feat, the consistent success from Giorgis won out big time in this vote and created an all-women’s basketball final to determine the best MAAC coach of all time.
Final
No. 1 Tricia Fabbri vs No. 3 Brian Giorgis
Two future college basketball hall of famers, whether that be in the state or for the school they coach(ed) for headline the MAAC Madness Final. Two of the four top dogs held on and maintained a chalky theme similar to the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments this year. However, they both faced lower seeds who made strong runs, keeping the MAAC chaos alive and well.
The matchup deadlocked in the final stages of voting and required a dramatic, tie-breaking vote to determine a winner.
The 2025 MAAC Madness winner is…. BRIAN GIORGIS. The former Marist women’s basketball coach defeated Tricia Fabbri of Quinnipiac by one to claim the title!
Winner: Brian Giorgis
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore; Photo from Marist Athletics
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