James Rizzo begins his second season as a graduate assistant with the Lincoln men's basketball team in 2018-19 after spending the previous four years assisting with the men's basketball program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rizzo assists the Lincoln coaching staff in all areas of practice and game planning.
During his first year with the Blue Tigers, Rizzo worked with three athletes who earned all-conference recognition: Terrence Smith, an All-MIAA third team selection, and Amariontez Ivory and Maurice Mason, both of whom were all-league honorable mentions. Rizzo helped Lincoln achieve a third-straight winning season as well as its third postseason invitation in as many years.
Rizzo was a video manager for the Fighting Illini, filming practices and cutting up and breaking down game film. Beginning in his junior year at Illinois, Rizzo was promoted to Head Student Video Manager, and became the primary film exchange contact for the program. He assisted in creating scouting reports and personnel sheets, assisted in individual and team workouts and worked with an assistant coach to help with advanced scouting.
Additionally, Rizzo assisted the Fighting Illini with their basketball camps, setting up game clocks and organizing drills for more than 100 kids. Rizzo also has experience working at Wrigley Field and with the Medinah Country Club.
Rizzo graduated from Illinois with a bachelor's degree in recreation in 2017 and is pursuing a master's degree in business administration at LU.
Â
