NEW YORK (April 11, 2014) – Madison Square Garden executive vp Joel Fisher, Fordham associate vp Frank McLaughlin and former St. Thomas Aquinas basketball coach Dennis O’Donnell will be presented with
Distinguished Service Awards by the Met Basketball Writers Assn. at the 81st All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner on April 22 at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY.
The Haggerty Dinner is the longest running college basketball awards program conducted by a media group in the United States.
Fisher’s career at MSG has developed and evolved from a lifelong love of sports into an ardent dedication to advancing the sports-business industry. In his current capacity as evp-sports and arena transformation, Fisher oversees some of the most vital endeavors at the World’s Most Famous Arena, including the day-to-day operations of MSG Sports Properties. His domain includes college basketball, along with such diverse sports as boxing, tennis, college wrestling and hockey, and high school basketball.
Most recently, Fisher, who has been at MSG since 1984, headed up efforts in conjunction with the 2014 NCAA East Regional, which was the first time the NCAA men’s basketball tournament played at the Garden in 53 years. The event marked the pinnacle of a significant college hoops revival under Fisher’s domain at the arena, which continues to lure major national programs every season along with catering to Met area collegiate teams.
A graduate of Union College, where he played basketball, with a Master’s in business from NYU, Fisher resides in Irvington, NY, with his wife Lisa and their three daughters. His volunteer activities include the Boy Scouts of America, After School All Stars of New York, the Fresh Air Fund and the Irvington Basketball Fund.
A former coach and athletic director, McLaughlin was promoted by Fordham on July 1, 2012, to the new position of associate vice president of student affairs for athletic alumni relations and external affairs/athletic director emeritus. A 1969 Fordham graduate and standout basketball player for the Rams, he was drafted by the New York Knicks but found his true calling in the coaching and administrative ranks. After assistant coaching stints at Holy Cross and then both Fordham and Notre Dame under Richard “Digger” Phelps, McLaughlin was named head coach at Harvard in 1977, where he stayed for eight successful seasons.
McLaughlin returned to his alma mater as athletic director in 1985 and, under his watch, the school continually expanded its sports programs and undertook the renovation of numerous playing and training facilities. He has served as president of the Met Intercollegiate Basketball Assn, which conducted the preseason and postseason National Invitation Tournaments.
A resident of Briarcliff Manor, NY, McLaughlin and his wife, Susan, have three daughters who all graduated from Fordham.
A native of Jersey City, O’Donnell got the notion to coach while a student at St. John’s. He recalls attending a game at Alumni Hall back in 1977 with these thoughts: “I don’t remember much about the actual game, but I remember Coach (Lou) Carnesecca. I knew right then, watching him, that’s what I wanted to do.”
After coaching for awhile at the high school level in New Rochelle, NY, O’Donnell latched on as men’s basketball coach at Elizabeth Seton College in Yonkers, NY, where he produced a 170-104 record over nine seasons along with two National Small College Athletic Assn. regional titles. His 22-season tenure (326-311) as coach and assistant athletic director at STAC in Sparkill, NY, began in 1991, and witnessed the school’s transition from the NAIA to the NCAA ranks. The Spartans advanced to postseason play all nine years O’Donnell led them as an NAIA affiliate, a run that included three CACC crowns, and a 34-2 record and No. 1 national ranking in 1996-97.
Named All-Met Division II men’s coach of the year twice (1994, ’97) by the Met Writers, O’Donnell has been received by Presidents Nixon and Reagan, and he has twice been selected as a regional finalist by the President’s Commission on White House Fellows. A fervent advocate for academics as well as athletics, more than 90 percent of his student-athletes have earned college degrees over the years.