Men's Hoops Coach Palombo Named Interim
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Guilford College
men's basketball coach Tom Palombo will add interim athletic
director to his responsibilities Aug. 31 upon the retirement of
Marion Kirby. Kirby, who spent just over five years as the Quakers'
athletic director, announced his retirement to the school's
coaching staff Thursday afternoon.
Palombo started his fifth year at Guilford this summer. In addition
to his coaching responsibilities, he became an assistant to Kirby
with responsibilities for departmental budgeting in 2006 and has
served as director of the Quaker Club since the summer of 2004.
During Kirby's tenure, Guilford's Athletic Department grew from 12
to 16 teams, boosting athletic participation to an all-time high,
and produced a golf national championship in 2005 and four Old
Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championships. Thirteen
Guilford student-athletes combined to win 22 academic or
performance All-America commendations in the Kirby era.
In addition, in the past several years the college's athletics
facilities received extensive renovations, highlighted by the
$1.15-million press box and seating addition to the Armfield
Athletic Center, the Quakers' football and lacrosse stadium, in
2006.
As a coach, Palombo has guided Guilford to a 67-42 record in four
seasons and owns a 167-105 mark in 10 years as a college men's
coach. The Quakers are coming off their best record in more than 30
years (24-5) and their first NCAA Division III playoff appearance
that ended in the national quarterfinals.
In 2006-07, Palombo was named the South Region Coach of the Year by
the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D3hoops.com and
the ODAC's Men's Basketball Coach of the Year (for the second
time). Four Quakers have earned All-ODAC honors six times under
Palombo's guidance, including Ben Strong '08, the defending NCAA
Division III Player of the Year.
An instructor in the Sport Studies Department, Palombo also
coordinates game management responsibilities for home football and
men's soccer games. He works on the NCAA South Region Advisory
Committee and chairs the ODAC's Men's Basketball Coaches
Committee.
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. He and his wife,
Amy, live in Greensboro with their four children.
A 2006 inductee into the Guilford (N.C.) County Sports Hall of
Fame, Kirby coached football at Page High School in Greensboro
where he won 219 games and four state 4-A titles in 23 seasons. He
also coached at Holmes H.S. in Edenton, N.C. and his career
scholastic coaching record is 276-65-8 with four state titles, 18
state playoff berths and 14 conference crowns. Kirby was the
founding football coach at Greensboro College, guiding the Pride
for five seasons from 1997-2001. The News & Record of
Greensboro named him one of the Triad's most important sports
figures of the 20th Century.
A native of Hickory, N.C., Kirby graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne
College in 1964 and played four years as an offensive lineman and
place-kicker for the Bears' football team. He was named the team's
top freshman in 1960 and helped the team to an 11-0-1 record and
the 1960 NAIA national championship.
Guilford is inviting reflections on Kirby's career at https://notesdb.guilford.edu/mkreflections.nsf
This release is courtesy of the Guilford sports
information department.