Lou Izzi became Director of Athletics at Cameron University on March 1, 2024 after serving as Vice President for Athletics at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts.  While at American International, Izzi led a department with 700 student-athletes and was responsible for the leadership and development of 25 NCAA Division II sports and an NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey program that won the Atlantic Hockey Association championship and reached the Allentown Regional of the 2022 NCAA Division I tournament.  Izzi also led the department’s Athletics Giving Day campaign which raised a college record $312,000 in 2023.
Prior to his tenure at American International, Izzi served as Vice President for Athletics at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Joining the university’s in 2019, he was responsible for the strategic planning, leadership, development, and operational and personnel management of the university’s NCAA Division II athletics program.
Izzi also served four years as the director of Athletics at NCAA Division III New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire where he led the athletics program to unprecedented success, including nine conference team championships, six NCAA tournament victories, a 38 percent increase in student-athlete enrollment, and he secured multiple major gifts and successfully raised over $200,000 in two Athletics Days of Giving fundraising campaigns.Â
Izzi coached men’s ice hockey at the NCAA Division III level for 15 seasons at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island and Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts from 1996-2003 and 2004-2012, respectively. He was the first head coach in the history of Johnson & Wales and earned the 2001 New England Coach of the Year honors. He claimed that award again in 2008 and 2009 with Nichols as part of a tenure that saw him lead the program to a school-record 25 wins in one season and its first-ever national ranking, conference title, and NCAA Tournament berth. Izzi is currently the winningest men’s ice hockey coach at both Johnson & Wales and Nichols College.
Izzi earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Providence College and holds a master’s degree in Sport Administration from Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.
