Nevio Marzinotto was appointed head coach of the McGill men’s basketball program on April 10, 2000. He replaced Ken Schildroth, who stepped down after 15 years at the helm of the Redmen, to concentrate on additional administrative duties as intercollegiate coordinator at McGill.
     Marzinotto, a 54-year-old native of St-Leonard, Que., has been head coach of the Quebec provincial men’s basketball team since 1991. He has served as an assistant to Schildroth for nine years and previously stepped in as head coach at McGill during the 1991-92 campaign when Schildroth took a one-year sabbatical to complete his Level IV certification at the National Coaching Institute in Victoria.
     Despite a number of serious injuries, the Redmen were the surprise of the Quebec conference in 2000-01, finishing atop the league standings (for the first time since 1987) with a 13-9 record, including a victory over 10th-ranked Concordia and a win over No. 8-ranked York. McGill received a bye into the QSSF best-of-three championship series, which they lost in two straight after running into a hot Laval team. The upstart Redmen went 19-15 overall and featured three freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors and three seniors. The team won the McGill Redbird Classic for the first time ever and also competed at the Naismith Classic in Waterloo, the Clint Dunning Memorial tourney in Ottawa and the UBC Holiday tourney in Vancouver.
     Marzinotto, a physical education teacher at John Paul 1 high school, coached for 28 years at the high school level in Montreal, including stints at Aimerenaud, Laurier Macdonald and John Paul I.
     "I’’m going to enjoy the challenge," said Marzinotto when appointed head coach. "Thanks to Ken’s recruiting efforts, I will be surrounded by a number of good young players (over the next few seasons). I believe that most of the pieces are there to get this team to a berth at the Nationals. I think we have the ability to put the ball in the hoop, so I intend to put more of a focus on improving our defensive aspect of the game."
     Marzinotto is married and has two daughters, Erika a student at the University of Toronto and Emilie, who studies at McGill. His wife Louise is a principal at St George's high school.
     Marzinotto will be aided by assistant coaches Bernie Rosanelli, a former Redmen star, and Matt Davies.