Chris Daleo
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
Chris Daleo begins his first season as assistant men’s basketball coach at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Daleo spent the 2015-16 season as the head coach of the Rochester (NY) Razorbacks in the Premier Basketball League along with the Owensboro franchise, the Kentucky Mavericks.
Before Rochester, he was the head coach of the Champaign (Ill.) Swarm in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association during the 2014-15 season where he won the Championship title with a 16-4 in their inaugural year.
From 2008 to 2013, he served as the Director of Operations of the Rockford (Ill.) Riverhawks of the Northern League.
Prior to Rockford, Daleo accepted the position of head coach and general manager of the Continental Basketball Association’s (now the NBA D-League) Minot (ND) Skyrockets. He forged a two-year record of 69-27 (31-17 in 2007-08 and 31-17 in 2006-07).
Daleo five-times received the CBA Coach of the Month Award and served as the American Conference All-Star Coach in 2008.
He started in the CBA with the Rockford Lighting as head coach and general manager for four seasons
(2002-06) compiling the highest winning percentage in franchise history with a 113-79 record with a blend of former collegiate players and NBA signees.
His honors include 2003 CBA Coach of the Year, leading his teams to the 2003 American Conference title, 2005 Eastern Conference Championships and the CBA finals.
Daleo also coached the Lighting to the eight-team 2006 Treviso Summer League in Italy and the CBA U.S. team on a tour of China in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In 2002, he was the Milwaukee Bucks Summer Player Development Coach.
Daleo began as a collegiate head coach at NAIA Barat College in Lake Forest, Ill., where he also was the Director of Athletics from 1999 to 2002. His last two seasons the Bulldogs went 57-15 and were ranked No. 18 in the nation.
His final season, Barat won the Chicago Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship and participated in the NAIA Division I National Tournament with a 33-6 record. For his accomplishments, Daleo was chosen as the NAIA Coach of the Year.
The Bulldogs led the nation in scoring with 101 .2 points per contest in 2001 and second in 2002 with a 98.7 average.
Before jumping into college coaching, he was the assistant coach with the Rockford Lighting from 1997 to 1999. In 1998, he was the Seattle Supersonics Summer Player Development Coach.
His coaching career started at Kishwaukee Junior College in Malta, Ill. In 1995 for two seasons.
Daleo graduated from Depaul University with a bachelor’s of science degree in 1988.
