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Mount Aloysius’ new hall creates ‘wow’ moment

DeAntonio among school's pioneers

Joe DeAntonio back in the day for the Mount Aloysius women's basketball program. Courtesy photo

By Neil Rudel

nrudel@altoonamirror.com

Some of the inductees into the Mount Aloysius Athletic Hall of Fame were doubly surprised to learn of their recognition.

For one, they didn’t know the Mount’s new hall existed, let alone that they were selected as inaugural selections.

“I really didn’t expect the Mount to have a hall of fame,” former women’s basketball coach Joe Antonio, who is one of six individuals and one team set for tonight’s recognition, said. “The AD (Kevin Kime) called me. I thought, ‘Wow.”’

“It’s definitely an honor,” Ginger Fanelli Claar, a 2003 Mount grad and the school’s all-time scoring leader in women’s basketball 2,358 points, said. “It’s an honor to be in any hall of fame, let alone the first class.”

DeAntonio and Fanelli will join fellow inductees Aaron Kovach (baseball), Brianna Baker (basketball, volleyball); Roman Mims (basketball); Jalisa (Westover) Murphy (softball) and the 2015 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champion men’s soccer team.

“We’ve always known that Mountie athletes are leaders — both in their sports and in their communities,” Kime said. “We’re so happy to now fully honor their legacies properly in our new athletic hall of fame. It’s a great way to celebrate the history of the athletics department while also shining a light on our future.”

Kime also serves as the Mount baseball coach, and Kovach, a Hollidaysburg native, is the school’s career leader in batting average (.401) and the 2013 AMCC player of the year.

“It was definitely something unexpected but an unbelievable honor,” Kovach said. “It’s been almost 10 years, and looking back at the whole experience has been cool to reflect on — all the experiences on and off the field, all the relationships and life lessons learned. I’m just very grateful.”

Fanelli, a former standout at Altoona Area High School, played when Dave Adams was the Mount’s coach. She was a key player on the school’s USCAA women’s Division I national championship team.

“It’s hard to believe I scored that many points, but I think we played a lot more games back then,” she said. “I built a lot of friendships, and it was a good four years. I feel very thankful I had such good teammates and coaches and obviously my parents played a big role in that as well.”

While the majority of Mount’s first class represents a more recent era, DeAntonio was on the ground floor.

From 1984-95, he developed the Mount into a junior-college power, evidenced by his career record of 235-74.

DeAntonio, or Joey D. as he is still known, was a six-time NJCAA Region XX coach of the year who was inducted into the NJCAA Region XX Hall of Fame in 2003.

His teams were nationally ranked 10 out of 11 seasons with three making it to the Sweet 16 and one to the Elite Eight, and he sent multiple players to Division I programs.

“Coach DeAntonio was a pioneer at Mount Aloysius,” Kime said. “He established our first consistent winning program in women’s basketball team. He also found a way to take a small junior college in Cresson, Pennsylvania to several national championship appearances.”

Kime called DeAntonio’s career, “remarkable, especially competing at the NJCAA D1 level.”

Now 75 years old, DeAntonio, who resides in Altoona, said he’s “happy, humbled and blessed” by the recognition.

His teams participated not only before today’s new arena at the Mount but prior to the old gym on campus.

“The first few years, I kept pushing for a new gym,” he said. “We practiced at Portage Middle School and Penn Cambria. We drove to practice. I drove the van. We had to transport everything — shot clocks, all our equipment.”

When they built what is now the old gym, “it was a godsend,” DeAntonio said, adding the latest facility — a $25 million shrine that is the Mount’s Athletic Convocation and Wellness Center that opened in 2014 — is “beautiful.”

“I always felt it was a nice little campus,” he said.

Even after his tenure didn’t end well.

He ran into a conflict with a former administration over what later became a legal case of racial bias following the unanimous recommendation of a minority by the search committee that he chaired for the men’s basketball job. The school balked at the choice, and two weeks later, DeAntonio’s contract was not renewed.

Twenty-seven years later, Mount Aloysius is finally considering him a legend.

“I always loved the school,” DeAntonio said. “I think this administration is trying to right the wrongs of the past so everyone can move forward.”

What a good idea.

Rudel can be reached at 814-946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.

Head of class

The following will be enshrined tonight in the Mount Aloysius Athletics Hall of Fame:

Brianna Baker – women’s basketball and volleyball

Ginger (Fanelli) Claar – women’s basketball

Aaron Kovach – baseball

Roman Mims – men’s basketball

Jalissa (Westover) Murphy – softball

Joe DeAntonio – women’s basketball

2015 men’s soccer team

Emcee: Tim Rigby

The Mount Aloysius Athletics Hall of Fame is located in McLanahan Plaza on the second floor of the Athletic Center (ACWC). To nominate someone for a future consideration, visit mountieathletics.com

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