LSU Adds Jeane Fuccillo to Coaching Staff

The LSU Tigers are back to a full coaching staff, having added Jeane Fuccillo from Northern Arizona University to their coaching staff today, pending the completion of a clean background check.

Fuccillo comes to the Tigers from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff – home of one of the country’s two major altitude training centers. Given how late into the season that Dave Geyer has had to scramble to find a new assistant after Brandy Collins went back to her alma mater at the University of Arizona, this hire could be a good one. He already has a staff ripe with experience thanks to former Clemson head coach Chris Ip signing on as an assistant, so he grabbed a young, energetic, female with some big (and recent) swimming credentials to round out the group.

Fuccillo spent two years as a full-time assistant with the Lumberjacks and one prior as a Volunteer Assistant, meanwhile working with the Flagstaff Peaks Aquatic Club. Northern Arizona finished 3rd at the WAC Conference Championship meet in all three seasons while Fuccillo was there as a coach (prior to that, she also had some graduate assistant duties).

Prior to that, she was a four-year letter winner and 2006-2007 Team Captain at UCLA, and was a three-time Pac 10 A-finalist as a 200 breaststroker and 400 IM’er. She has a trophy full of junior recognitions as well, including the 2002 Illinois High School Swimmer of the Year award, and a Junior National Champion.

Interesting to note – this will be Fuccillo’s first experience with a co-ed team: both at UCLA and NAU, she was a part of women’s-only programs. Northern Arizona, and the nearby Peaks Aquatic Club in Flagstaff, have become a burgeoning hotbed for developing Division I assistants – Fuccillo’s same position, effectively, was previously held by new Ohio State assistant Dave Rollins.