SUNY OW vs St. Josephs | Credit: Chris Bergmann Photography
It’s been a successful 18 years for Michael Krasnoff as the head coach of the women’s basketball team at SUNY Old Westbury. He originally joined as part of Joe Gugliero’s staff in 2000. Both were coaching out of an AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) program prior to Old Westbury. Gugliero was impressed with the practices that Krasnoff ran and was interested in having him as an assistant coach.
Krasnoff, a native of Franklin Square, NY, took over as head coach of the team in 2002. Since then, the program has experienced lots of success, winning two Skyline Conference Championships. This past season, the program finished 23-4 and captured its second conference championship. The team also advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three years.
After all the accomplishments Old Westbury has experienced under coach Krasnoff, there are moments where he sits back in his office and reflects on everything he has experienced in his tenure here.
“Each one of them is special like your own child, and I mean no different than your own child,” Krasnoff said as he pointed at all the pictures of his former players hanging in his office. “Your relationship with them and how they grew as a person and as a player and how we keep in touch. They know on their birthday, they’re getting a text from me wishing them a happy birthday. I enjoy doing this and they love that I remember. I don’t forget. The family just grows. It’s wonderful.”
“It’s just been a great ride and a lot of hard work. It’s a grind, but we do it. It’s a part-time position, but requires full-time energy to get your program at the level where it needs to be,” Krasnoff continued.
Besides the measurable success, there are also other things that make Krasnoff proud to be a head coach. Some of the those things go beyond the offensive and defensive schemes on the court; it’s more than just scoring points and getting stops on defenses. “The other part of it is the life lessons that prepare you for a job when you’re finished with school,” Krasnoff said. “We have a lot of kids that didn’t necessarily come from households that made demands on them as far as rules.”
When he calls it a career, the thing that will stick with him the most is the growth of the program and the friendships he has developed with his current and former players. “The first time we won the championship was a real nice thing,” Krasnoff said. “A former player that I wasn’t expecting came back through the door with a big smile. Those moments are unbelievable. They’re right up there with cutting the net down.”
