Joseph Prisco

If ever there was a person who deserved the title of Mr. Providence College, it would not be a basketball player or a hockey player. Joseph Prisco earned the tag with more than 60 years of dedication to the school.

From 1960, when golf was elevated to a varsity sport for the Friars, Prisco was the only coach the school ever had. His time actually goes back even before 1960, to when he was a student at the school. He was both the team captain and the coach in 1948 and then again in 1949, when he graduated from the school. Prisco returned in 1953 and spent eight years coaching the team.

From 1965 on, his teams compiled a 389-108-1 record. Eight times his team qualified for the NCAA Tournament, with 16 players competing as individuals. He had 11 players honored as All-Americans, six Big East champions, one ECAC winner and three New England Champions. Under him, the Friars won the Rhode Island Championship 18 times, the New England title three times and the Big East crown in 1980 and 1993. He worked as a full-time professor in the business department until his retirement in 1989, but even then continued teaching courses part time for more than 20 years.

Among other work, Joe served as chairman of the District I NCAA selection committee and as an executive member of the New England Golf Coaches Association. He was a member of both the NCAA All-American Selection Committee and the Hall of Fame Committee. Prisco is a past president of the New England Public Golf Association, the New England Public Links Association and the Triggs Memorial Golf Club. He was the author of The Current Constitution and By-Laws governing the activities for the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association.

In 1998, Providence College announced it was eliminating men's golf as a varsity sport. The team was allowed to keep its varsity status and compete until May of 2002. The team played its last varsity tournament at the URI Invitational in April of 2002. Prisco stayed on and went back to where he began, coaching the program as a club sport.