Getting to Know: Michael Romano
May 31, 2022

In our newest segment, "Getting to Know," we profile recent hires at CCRI and provide
an in-depth look at their role at the college, their background prior to joining our
community, and how their work reflects CCRI's guiding principles. Email [email protected] to nominate a co-worker.
The role of a Compliance Officer in collegiate athletics covers a wide variety of
responsibilities. Compliance Officers are the liason between student-athletes and
their academic success, working to ensure that student-athletes meet the financial
requirements to maintain their amateur status and the academic performance standards
to retain eligibility, as well as maintaining proper behavior on and off the field.
As a trailblazer for gender equity in sports, Bev Wiley set the standard when she
became the Community College of Rhode Island's first Compliance Officer, a position
she held for more than a decade. In November, Pawling, NY, native and Glocester, RI, resident Michael Romano joined CCRI's Athletics Department as its new Compliance Officer, bringing more than
a decade's worth of coaching, advising, and teaching to the position.
Prior to taking over Wiley's role at CCRI, Romano worked as a teacher, resident advisor,
and varsity basketball coach at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut. With a bachelor's
degree in History from Western Connecticut State University and a master's in Education
from Marist College, he has also coached at Rhode Island College, Bard College, Alfred
University, and Hartwick College in addition to his role with various Amateur Athletic
Union (AAU) basketball tournaments and organizations.
Today, we caught up with Michael – a defensive whiz throughout his coaching career
– to discuss his role at CCRI, the challenges student-athletes face, and some of the
best defenders he's ever seen on the basketball court.
Tell us a bit about the role of a compliance officer in collegiate athletics and what
that responsibility entails
“In my role I am the academic advisor for all of the student-athletes. I help them
plan their classes and schedules to keep them on track to graduate and provide them
services they need as they progress through their academic career. All the while I
make sure they are eligible to participate in athletics according to the NJCAA guidelines
and I verify all of their eligibility with the NJCAA national offices.”
The pandemic forced students to adapt to new ways of learning and studying. Have you
found that the way student-athletes approach academics has been more streamlined since
the pandemic?
“I’m not sure I would say their approach to academics has changed, but, like a lot
of us, their approach to everything has changed and they are taking fewer things for
granted. The pandemic obviously affected all students a great deal, and in a number
of ways that we are still figuring out and may never fully understand.
“One impact on student-athletes, of course, was taking away their sport. When you
have been playing your sport your entire life and then it just isn’t available to
you anymore, that took an incredible toll on all of the student-athletes I’ve been
in contact with. They obviously understand why, but it drastically affected their
mental and physical health. For so many of them, sports and competition are healthy
ways to deal with stress and a great source of motivation and overall happiness, and
that just wasn’t available to them.”
You have a lot of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including Rhode Island
College. What has been your proudest moment as a coach through the years?
“I have so many terrific on-court memories, winning two Little East Championships
at Rhode Island College in 2013 and 2014 and then building a program at Alfred University,
which had really struggled for a while. My second season there, we won the 2019 Empire
8 Championship and went to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997.
“The best part has always been recruiting, though. I’m most proud of the kids I have
been able to recruit over the years. So many kids and their families never thought they would be able to go to college,
let alone graduate from one, but I was able to help them with the college process
and they trusted me and believed in what we were building so much that they came to
play for me. Getting the call from a kid that you helped them with one of the toughest
decisions they have to make at 17 or 18 years old is a great feeling.”
In your experience as an advisor and a teacher, what has been the most effective method
in terms of helping student-athletes balance their schoolwork with their responsibilities
on the playing field?
“Creating a connection between their academic performance and their athletic participation.
Many student-athletes are told from a young age “if you don’t do well in school, you
won’t play,” but those are often well-intentioned, but empty, promises by the adults
in their lives. So, I’ve always phrased it as, ‘When we are on the road, packed gym,
down by one and we have to get a defensive stop, a rebound, and then go the other
way and execute a play and make a basket to win, you want me to trust you in that
spot, right?’
“Every kid does. They all want to be in that spot. The follow-up is: ‘There is no
way I’m trusting you to do that if I can’t trust you just to show up to class on time.’
Winning championships is really, really hard. College is challenging, but there are
some aspects of it that aren’t so difficult – show up on time, put your phone away,
pay attention, be polite to professors, log into Blackboard when you need to. That
stuff is easy. If you want me to trust you with the hard stuff on the basketball court,
you better be able to do the easy stuff first.”
You’re known for your defensive expertise in basketball. Who’s the best defensive
player you’ve ever seen play, whether collegiate or NBA?
“Haha, yes. I’m a bit of a stickler for the defensive side of things. I’m a problem-solver at
heart, so I took pride in seeing if I could stop other teams from scoring on us.
[Los Angeles Lakers power forward] Anthony Davis at Kentucky was tremendous. In addition
to rebounding and blocking shots, he was able to switch onto smaller guards and really
cause problems. He was fun to watch. That said, my small-college guys that I coached are going to be mad if they see this
and I don’t mention them, so, Tahrike Carter (RIC, 2013 Little East Defensive Player
of the Year and All-American); his teammate Ethan Gaye, who was incredible; and Sage
Brown at Alfred University (2019 Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year) are the best
that I’ve coached.”
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