Coach Clay Pittinaro brings 20 years of coaching experience across high school, collegiate, and professional levels to the St. John Fisher University men’s basketball program. As the Head Men’s JV Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach, his cornerstones are player development, program culture, and strategic execution.
Pittinaro’s resume includes 11 years at the high school level, five seasons in professional basketball, and four years in the college ranks—each trademarked by noteworthy program rebuilds.
In 2006, He took over a Cayuga Community College program that was on probation and had an empty roster. Within weeks, Coach assembled a group of seven players and led them to multiple victories over top-five nationally ranked teams. In January of 2007, Pittinaro's Spartans defeated Columbia-Greene in Double Overtime finishing the game with only three players on the court.
In the professional ranks, Pittinaro spent five seasons as an assistant with the Rochester RazorSharks, winning two league championships. During the 2018 season, Coach Pittinaro was promoted to Head Coach after an 0–8 start to the season, he led the RazorSharks to consecutive wins his first two games—winning by an average of 22 points—and eventually brought them out of last place to force a play-off to make the post season. In a league featuring: former NBA starters, NCAA Division-I Champions, and the all-time leading scorer in NBA D-League history, Coach Pittinaro was the only coach in the league to beat both conference’s #1 seeds during the regular season, and had three different players win ‘Player of the Week’ honors.
Academically, Pittinaro’s impact is equally impressive. Across three collegiate programs, his teams have posted a cumulative GPA of 3.48—reflecting his emphasis on accountability and excellence off the court.
Coach Pittinaro holds an Associate Degree from Monroe Community College and a Bachelor’s Degree from Nazareth University. His coaching philosophy centers on building disciplined, high-IQ, team-first players who are prepared to lead in every phase of life.
