Marianne O’Connor Ermi is just the second head coach in St. John Fisher College women's basketball history, taking the reigns in 2008. Since taking over, Fisher has advanced to the Empire 8 Championship each year.
In 2014-15 Fisher held a 22-7 record - marking the 37th time in the program’s 41-year history it had finished with a winning record. The 2014-15 season saw Fisher win its first Empire 8 Championship since the 2005-06 season, defeating Ithaca College 86-84 in overtime. The Cardinals secured a first round win over Skidmore College in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Championship.
After being named interim head coach back in November of 2008, she guided the Cardinals to an 18-10 overall record and their fourth overall ECAC Upstate Championship title; their third in the decade.
Prior to the 2008-09 season, Ermi served as an assistant coach for 23 seasons under legendary head coach Phil Kahler, who retired in November of 2008. Kahler established Fisher as the all-time winningest team in NCAA Division III, while posting a 797-175 record (40-4 against non-NCAA opponents). He led the Cardinals to winning records in 32 of his final 33 seasons, and 20 wins on 27 different occasions. The Cardinals earned a bid into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament 14 times, including two national runner-up finishes.
A native of Schenectady, Ermi began her coaching career after four years of playing under Kahler. In her playing days, Ermi evolved into one of the College’s top basketball players and led Fisher to four straight state tournament appearances in the early 1980s, when the Cardinals were an NCAA Division II program. She finished her career ranked sixth at the College in career assists with 278 and ranked fourth in career free-throw shooting percentage, making 76.4% of her shots from the charity stripe. For her outstanding efforts, the four-year starting guard was inducted into Fisher’s Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2008.
Ermi’s presence on the sideline over the past 29 seasons has not gone unnoticed. In 2003 she was honored by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York for her dedication and success, as one of just five recipients of the Assistant Coaches Award.
Marianne resides in Rush with her husband, Mark, and their two children, Meghan and Shaun.
