2024 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Digital Program

MAAC COMMISSIONER

MAAC CHRONOLOGY The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is founded. U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan College, and Saint Peter's College are the charter members, and will begin competition in the fall of 1981.

TRAVIS TELLITOCCI MAAC Commissioner

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Travis Tellitocci (pronounced Tella-toss-see) was named MAAC Commissioner in February of 2023 and his term commenced in May 2023. Tellitocci becomes just the fourth commissioner in the history of the MAAC. Tellitocci joined the MAAC from the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), where he served as the assistant commissioner for football, basketball and officiating for more than six years. Beyond Tellitocci’s role as assistant commissioner, while at the OVC, he also was the tournament manager for the men’s and women’s basketball championships and the baseball championship. He also served as the tournament manager for the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second Round games at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to his work for the OVC, he also serves on the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Competition Committee. Tellitocci brings to the MAAC a breadth of experience that spans professional sports, a college athletics department, and Division I conference leadership. Early in his career, Tellitocci worked for the New York Mets as the associate producer for scoreboard and entertainment, before transitioning into college athletics.

Canisius College, Loyola College (MD), Niagara University, and Siena College enter the MAAC to bring the total number of schools to 12, forming the largest conference in the nation at that time. The conference divides itself into two divisions, the North: Army, Canisius, Holy Cross, Fordham, Niagara, and Siena; and the South: Fairfield, Iona, La Salle, Loyola, Manhattan, and Saint Peter's.

MAAC announces that Marist College and Rider University will join the conference as full-time members, no later than the 1997-98 academic year.

Marist earns its third women's basketball league title in four years. The Red Foxes became the first women's program in league history to advance to the Sweet 16, falling to eventual National Champion, Tennessee.

Quinnipiac women’s basketball team makes historic Sweet Sixteen run in the 2017 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Bobcats became the second MAAC women’s basketball team to advance to the Sweet 16 since 2007.

His appointment as MAAC commissioner is a homecoming for Tellitocci. Prior to joining the OVC, he served as the deputy athletics director at MAAC member Marist College. While at Marist, he worked with all 23 Division I sports of the college, and was responsible for the oversight of the athletics department’s business operations, marketing, media relations, broadcasting, licensing, and ticketing. Tellitocci originally joined the Marist staff as assistant athletics director for external affairs in 2006, and held a number of positions with growing responsibilities before being named Marist’s deputy athletics director. Tellitocci earned his bachelor’s degree in communication with a minor in writing from Marist in 2004. He completed his master’s degree in integrated marketing and communication at Marist in 2014. A Benwood, West Virginia, native, Tellitocci and his wife, Bobbi Sue, are the parents of two sons, Tyler and Hudson.

No. 15 seed Saint Peter's men's basketball becomes the first MAAC program (men or women) to advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, defeating No. 2 Kentucky (85-79 OT), No. 7 Murray St. (70-60), and No. 3 Purdue (67-64). The Peacocks were also the first ever 15 seed in NCAA history to advance to the Elite Eight.

Mount St. Mary's University accepts invitation to join the MAAC as a full-time member starting in the 2022-23 season; the addition of the Mountaineers put the MAAC membership back to 11 schools for the 2022-23 season with the departure of Monmouth.

Longtime MAAC Commissioner Richard Ensor announces retirement at the conclusion of 2022-23 year, ending the longest NCAA DI multi-sport conference commissioner tenure.

Travis Tellitocci (pronounced Tella-toss-see) named as fourth commissioner in the history of the MAAC.

MAAC announces the addition of Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University as its newest full member institutions. The addition of the two institutions propelled the conference to an all-time membership high of 13 for the 2024-25 academic year.

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