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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