Guilford hired Tom Palombo as head men's coach and Stephanie Flamini as head women's coach in a news conference July 23.

Palombo moves to Guilford from Defiance where he compiled a 100-63 record and coached nine all-conference players as the Yellow Jackets' head men's basketball coach. His six-year stint as the Ohio school's men's coach followed three seasons as its women's mentor during which time the team went 78-7. Palombo's overall basketball record is 238-105 in 13 seasons with five NCAA Tournament berths.

Flamini recently concluded a successful three-year stint at Chowan where she had a 42-32 record, the most women's basketball coaching victories since Chowan became a four-year school in 1993. Chowan enjoyed three consecutive winning seasons for the first time under Flamini, including a 15-9 mark in 2002-03. Last year's club earned the school's first regional women's hoops ratings.

Guilford's 14th head men's coach, Palombo guided Defiance to the 1999 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament title, earning his first Division III NCAA Tournament bid with the men's team. Two years later the Yellow Jackets returned to the playoffs after winning the 2000-01 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Full-court defensive pressure and up-tempo offenses characterize Palombo's teams. Defiance went 17-10 in 2002-03 and produced the HCAC's Freshman of the Year and team scoring title for the second straight season. Despite missing a conference tournament title game for the first time in four years, the Yellow Jackets led the HCAC in scoring and attendance and finished sixth among Division III teams with an 85.9 points per game average. The 2001-02 club ranked second among the national scoring leaders (91.6 ppg.).

Palombo took over Defiance's 8-17 men's team in 1997 after finishing his second straight 28-1 season as the Yellow Jackets' women's coach. He guided an eight-player ladies' unit to a 22-5 mark and the second round of the NCAA playoffs in 1995, followed by a 28-1 campaign that earned him the 1996 D3News National Division III Coach of the Year Award. The Yellow Jackets' women reached the Division III quarterfinals and led the nation in scoring and attendance in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

A 1989 Virginia Wesleyan graduate, Palombo's hire marks his return to the ODAC where he starred on Don Forsyth's basketball teams and played baseball for the Marlins from 1986-89. He competed for Guilford College Athletics Hall of Fame member Conrad Parker's basketball teams at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach. After earning his bachelor's degree in communications and journalism from Virginia Wesleyan in 1989, Palombo received his master's degree in education with an emphasis in sport management from Old Dominion in 1991 and returned to Virginia Wesleyan as its women's basketball coach, softball coach, and sports information director. He averaged 15 basketball wins in three-plus seasons and won the 1992 ODAC Coach of the Year Award.

Butch Estes resigned the head men's basketball position May 6 after four years to take the same job at Miami-Dade Community College. He went 43-58 in four seasons at Guilford and helped restore a program that slumped to 3-21 in 1998-99. The Quaker men finished 12-14 in 2002-03 and expect all but two letter winners back for the coming season.

Including a 17-8 record as Maine-Farmington's head coach in 1998-99, Flamini owns a 59-40 head coaching record. In addition to her basketball duties, she served as the school's assistant athletic director, SWA and assistant softball coach. The Beavers won the Maine Athletic Conference title in 1989, one of three league titlists she has coached. Flamini served as an assistant at Division II Shippensburg in 1999-00 when the Raiders won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament. She assisted Deirdre Kane's West Chester team from 1996-98 and helped the Rams to the 1997 PSAC Eastern Conference crown and an NCAA bid.

Flamini concluded her college career at West Chester and in 1994 earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and an associate's degree in elementary education. She helped Immaculata's team in 1995-96 before returning to West Chester for her master's degree in athletic administration in 1998. A graduate of Upper Merion (Pa.) High School, she earned a basketball scholarship to Division II Clarion where she helped the Eagles to a 57-30 record, a PSAC title and two NCAA Tournament appearances in three years. Clarion advanced to the national quarterfinals in 1991 and to the round of 16 in 1992.

The hirings conclude a hectic summer at Guilford in which Kirby led national searches to fill both head coaching positions in two months, as well as two other sports. Barb Bausch had resigned the women's basketball position in May after leading the Quakers to a 187-80 record, two NCAA Tournament appearances and two ODAC titles in 10 seasons. She accepted an assistant coaching position at Division I Cal State Fullerton, her alma mater.

Guilford's women are slated to return 13 letter winners from the 2002-03 squad that went 20-7.