Boston Native Lands D1

Matt Gibson, Special to NERR | Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Tony Gallo has signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play next year at Coppin State University. The former Boston Herald and Globe All-Scholastic point guard from Lynn, MA, had an outstanding two year career at Cabrillo Junior College in Santa Cruz, California, scoring over 1,000 points as a two time All-Coast Conference South selection. This past year he was a California Honorable Mention All-State selection as well.

Gallo lead the Seahawks to two 2nd place finishes in the Coast Conference South division. In addition, Gallo has maintained a 3.0 GPA during his two years as a Seahawk. Gallo will enroll in the fall at Coppin State, a division I university in Baltimore, Maryland and member of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) coached by Ron “Fang” Mitchell.

Coppin State faced off against some of top teams in the country last season, including Oklahoma State and, Big East Champion, West Virginia. That isn’t new to Gallo though, as he led the Bay State Magic back in 2007 to the Providence Jamfest Finals against current West Virginia standout Kevin Jones and the Westchester Hawks. Gallo’s journey has been a long one as he, like most aspiring college basketball players, hoped to play at the highest level. He will join former Bay State Magic teammates in Orion Outerbridge (URI) and James Marcellus (Delaware State) at the division I level. 

"Tony is the type of player coach’s love," said Marcellus, who also plays in the MEAC. "When he went JUCO, I knew he'd pick up a scholarship. After playing in the MEAC for a year, I know Tony is as good as any point guard in this league. I think he’ll do real well in this league with his strength and ability to score while still setting up his teammates.

The Eagles are known for their up-tempo offense, which Gallo should thrive in with his ability to push the ball and score in transition. "I chose CSU because there style fits the way I play", said the 5'11 guard.  "Coach Mitchell has been there for a long time and is a very well respected coach at the D-1 level."

Though Gallo had division one recruitment during his senior year, he didn’t land a D-1 offer at first. "I came out of high school not heavily recruited," said Gallo. "I ended up at UMass Lowell, then broke my foot and ended up leaving after the first semester."

The Boston area guard then took his game across the country to follow his dream of playing D-1. "I ended up 3000 miles away at Cabrillo through my AAU coach [Vern Gibson] and did very well out there, earning myself a D1 scholarship.”

"Tony is a rare combination of gifted athleticism, excellence in scholarship and balanced by a sincere and giving persona" said Gibson, who also describes Gallo as "the most outstanding student athlete [he's] ever coached."

Gallo is joining a program that has built up quite the winning reputation over the years. During Mitchell's tenure at CSU, the Eagles have won 20 or more games during 6 seasons. The program won nine MEAC regular-season championships during the 90's and Mitchell has won 371 career games in Baltimore. In addition, Gallo hopes to leave his own mark on the basketball program as they are one of only four No. 15 seeds to knock out a No. 2 seed in the first round of the tourney. In 1997, Coppin upset South Carolina, 78-65, and then came within a point of knocking off Texas to become the lowest seed to ever reach the Sweet 16.

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