Pace University Men's Basketball

Matt Healing is entering his 11th season as the head coach of Pace University Men's Basketball in 2026-27. Healing has revitalized the program during his tenure, leading the Setters to their first ever Northeast-10 Conference Regular Season Championship and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history. Healing was nominated for HoopDirt.com NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2022.   The 2023-24 season continued the remarkable run for the Setters in recent years under Healing. At 18-11, the program had its fifth straight winning season as the Blue and Gold would finish the year tied for second place in the Northeast-10 Conference standings. The program spent multiple weeks ranked inside the NCAA Top 25 Poll and achieved their highest national ranking (#19) since 1996. Healing became the fourth head coach in program history to reach the 100-win plateau defeating Queens College on opening night, 88-80. In addition, Healing would lead the Setters to increased national attention by defeating Division I BIG EAST foe, St. John’s University, 63-59 in an exhibition contest at Carnesecca Arena.   Healing led the Setters to one of the best years in program history in 2022-23, as the Blue and Gold finished the season with 20 victories and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Setters were selected as the No. 5 seed in the East Region and Healing became the only coach in the history of the program to bring the men’s basketball team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. Pace would spend time ranked in the NCAA Top 25 Poll for the third straight season, while climbing to No. 2 in the D2SIDA East Regional Poll.   After a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021-22 season proved to be a record-breaking one for the Setters. The Blue and Gold achieved their best record (20-10) in two decades, culminating in a selection to the Division II NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East Region. Healing would lead Pace to its second ever NCAA Tournament victory defeating fourth-seeded, Dominican, 77-64, before falling to top-seeded Bentley in overtime in the East Regional semi-final. The tournament bid was earned after the Setters won the Northeast-10 Southwest Division Championship, going 14-5 in league and climbing to as high as No. 3 in the D2SIDA East Regional Poll.    The 2019-20 season, saw the Setters race out to their best start in school history, beginning the season 9-0 and entering the National Top 25 Poll for the first time since 1998. Healing’s squad also peaked at #2 in the D2SIDA East Regional Poll, which is the highest ranking in program history. The Blue and Gold would eventually win 19 games and advance to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, defeating Southern New Hampshire 90-75, earning a post-season victory for the second consecutive season. In 2018-19, Healing led the Setters back to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament and defeated Franklin Pierce, 74-61, marking the program’s first post-season win since 2007. The 16 victories on the year was the most for the Blue and Gold in over a decade. Pace set the stage for their breakout season with a 9-2 stretch which included a six-game win streak in the first half of the year. The Setters also made four appearances in the D2SIDA East Regional Poll climbing to as high as #5 in the rankings. Healing began turning the program around in his first season as the Setters nearly doubled their overall win total from the prior year and increased their number of Northeast-10 Conference victories by five after Healing was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in 2015. In addition, Pace has received the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award in each season that Healing has been at the helm. Healing brings 15 years of college coaching experience at the Division I, II, and III levels. Before his time at Pace, Healing served as Director of Basketball Operations at Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology. At NJIT, while working under coach Jim Engles (now head coach at Columbia University), Healing helped lead the Highlanders to the program's first-ever Great West Conference Championship. Prior to NJIT, Healing was assistant coach at Vassar College and spent time as assistant coach and assistant Sports Information Director at Centenary University. Healing began his career coaching boys basketball at Randolph High School in New Jersey. In addition to his coaching resume, Healing has excelled working the basketball camp circuit, spending numerous summers with the Hoop Group and Hoop Mountain organizations. He also participated and organized the NABC Youth Basketball Clinics in New Orleans (2012) and Houston (2016) during the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four. Healing is also a voter in the Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll and represents the NE-10 in the NCAA Coaches Connection program. Healing graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from Monmouth University in 2004. He is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and is currently residing in New Jersey with his wife, Daniela and their sons Nicholas and Matthew.  

Rigothi is currently in his tenth season in 2026-27 as a Pace assistant coach after coming to Pleasantville with more than 10 years of coaching experience. Most recently, he has spent four seasons as assistant boy’s varsity coach at the highly successful Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park, N.Y. In his role at Roosevelt, Rigothi helped lead the team to a pair of appearances in the Section 9/Class AA semifinals and a perfect 6-0 MHAL divisional record in 2016-17. Rigothi assisted in planning and executed daily practices, while also preparing game-plans and implementing offensive and defensive strategies. In addition, he was a vital part in scouting operations, as well as offseason team/individual workouts. Rigothi also took a lead role in the team’s summer league and summer camp. Prior to his time in Hyde Park, Rigothi served as an assistant coach at Vassar College. While there, he helped in both the scouting and recruiting departments. Rigothi gained experience in evaluating and recruiting prospective student-athletes on a national level. In addition to his coaching tenures, Rigothi has also had involvement in eight different basketball camps, including stops at UC-San Diego, Tulane and Marist. Rigothi is an undergraduate of the University of South Carolina, and holds a Master’s Degree in Athletic Administration from Western Kentucky University.