Continuing a transformative era for the Merrimack College men's basketball program, Joe Gallo '04 begins his 10th season on the Warriors sidelines in 2025-26, directing the program into its new era as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

In their first in in the MAAC, Gallo and his squad made a semifinals appearance after earning a second play finish in the regular season. Adam "Budd" Clark was named to the All-MAAC First Team and Bryan Etumnu was honored with MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. After the season concluded, Gallo signed a 10-year contract to stay in North Andover. 

The eighth head coach in school history, Gallo completed a run of three NCAA Tournament appearances in three years in 2018-19 to put a bow on the program's Division II history. He also snapped a 19-year conference championship drought when he guided the program to the 2018-19 Northeast-10 Conference Championship. Gallo boasts a 81-45 (.643) career record, the most wins ever for a Merrimack head coach over their first four seasons.

Gallo and the Warriors took the Northeast Conference by storm during their five-year tenure. The squad from North Andover won three Northeast Conference regular season titles (2019-20, 22-23, 23-24), as well as a NEC tournament championship (22-23). During the Division I transition the teams Gallo has coached have an overall record of 82-64 (56.1%) and a conference record of 58-28 (67.4%). Player development as also been a calling card for Gallo and his coaching staff. The Jersey native has coached three NEC Defensive Players of the Year, two NEC Players of the Year, two first team, three second team, two third team, and four all-rookie NEC members. Coach Joe Gallo received a litany of awards following the season including Jim Phelan NEC Coach of the Year, HoopDirt.com NCAA Div. 1 Coach of the Year, John McLendon Award (Top collegiate coach nationwide, ECAC Coach of the Year, NABC District Coach of the Year, and USBWA Coach of the Year.

Gallo led Merrimack to win the 2019-20 NEC Regular Season Championship, becoming the first team ever to win a conference title in its first season of Division I membership. Merrimack’s conference title came on the heels of being selected last in the conference’s preseason poll, and the team went on to win 14 of 18 NEC contests to win the regular season crown in outright fashion. The 2019-20 season featured historic victories including the program’s win at Northwestern, which was the team’s first-ever Division I triumph, and the NEC’s second victory ever over a Big Ten foe. The program added more non-conference wins against UMass Lowell, Jacksonville, Hartford, and Army. The conference slate featured a nine-game winning streak, the longest for any NEC team during conference play since 2014-15, and a conference-title-clinching win in the regular season finale against Central Connecticut. 

Merrimack has won at least 19 games in all four seasons of Gallo’s tenure to date, including three straight years of at least 20 wins. In 2019-20, Merrimack set a new NCAA record for wins by a program in its first year of reclassification to Division following its 17th victory of the year at Saint Francis Brooklyn. 

The 2019-20 campaign featured a myriad of media coverage as well, both regional and national. The Warriors made multiple appearances on ESPN throughout the year, and were featured in the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, theScore Sports App and Forbes among other outlets. The team’s “Make Chaos” mantra followed an effective defensive unit that led the NEC in scoring defense, 3-point field goal percentage defense, steals per game and turnover margin.

During the 2019-2020 season Coach Gallo helped Juvaris Hayes to an All-American season that included an NEC Defensive Player of the Year Award, all-conference first-team selection, and the Lefty Driesell Award as the top defensive player in the country

Other notable moments for Gallo came on the individual as multiple players had career seasons. Senior Juvaris Hayes put a bow on his historic career with a NEC Defensive Player of the Year honor, a spot on the all-conference first team and winning the Lefty Driesell Award, given to the top defensive player nationwide. Hayes finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time steals leader while playing in Merrimack’s 2-3 zone defense. Other individuals reached new heights in 2019-20 including junior Devin Jensen who set career highs in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage. He was joined by Idris Joyner, who established career highs in scoring.

In 2018-19, Merrimack tied the school record for wins in a season with 22; the Warriors have now won 22 contests in a year five separate times. The Warriors also came away with the NE10 Championship in their last year to do so. Merrimack won 19 games in the regular season, and proceeded to best Adelphi (83-81), Le Moyne (84-77) and New Haven (51-46) to claim the program's third conference tournament title and first since the 1999-00 campaign. The semifinal win over Le Moyne and championship game triumph over New Haven came on the road with Merrimack topping the Southwest Division's top two seeds. Gallo became just the second coach in program history to win a conference title.

He also cemented himself as only the second head coach at Merrimack to guide the team to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and the only to do so over his first three years. Gallo's programs reached the regional semifinals (Round of 32) twice over the last three years, securing an opening-round upset in both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The 2018-19 team earned the NCAA Division II East Region's second seed, the program's highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament. 

Other notable moments for Gallo over his first three seasons include a run of back-to-back 20-win seasons, accomplishing that feat for just the third time in school annals. Gallo has won at least 19 games in each of his first three seasons, serving as head coach in three of Merrimack's 13 seasons with at least 19 triumphs ever. Gallo has seen two players (Juvaris Hayes, Ryan Boulter) receive five total all-conference selections over the last three years. He has helped direct Hayes to consecutive All-American selections (2017-18, 2018-19), becoming just the sixth two-time All-American to ever suit up for the Warriors. Hayes also boasts NE10 Rookie of the Year (2016-17) and NE10 Defensive Player of the Year (2018-19) accolades under Gallo's tutelage.

The recruiting trail has also been productive for Gallo and his staff; the Merrimack staff has brought in two of the eight players (Juvaris Hayes, Jaleel Lord) ever to play in three different NCAA Tournaments. Ahead of the 2019-20 season, the coaching staff signed six players to comprise their first-ever Division I class, marking the largest recruiting class in school history. 

On May 9, 2016, Gallo returned to campus as Merrimack's head man after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Robert Morris University for the past four seasons. The Colonials posted 76 wins in Gallo's four years in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, winning the 2015 Northeast Conference Championship and earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In Gallo's first two years on the staff, Robert Morris won back-to-back NEC regular season titles and advanced to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) both years.

From 2013-15, the Colonials won a postseason game each year, twice in the NIT and once in the NCAA Tournament. Robert Morris defeated Kentucky (2013) and Saint John's (2014) in the NIT before taking down North Florida (2015) in the NCAA First Four, the programs second-ever NCAA win.

As recruiting coordinator, Gallo brought 2015 NEC Rookie of the Year Marquise Reed to the program as well as 2016 All-NEC First Team guard Rodney Pryor. Eight Colonials earned all-conference distinctions during Gallo's tenure, including 2014 NEC Player of the Year, Karvel Anderson.

From 2009-12, Gallo spent two years as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College and a one-year stint as the Director of Hoop Group Elite, the nation's largest basketball exposure camp for high school players. 

After a one-year hiatus at the conclusion of his playing career, the Milltown, New Jersey, native returned to campus in 2005 to begin a four-year period as an assistant with the men's basketball program. Gallo helped guide the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years during the 2007-08 season, and followed that up with the school's first NCAA Tournament win in 18 years during the 2008-09 campaign.

Gallo was instrumental in recruiting former All-Americans Darren Duncan '10 and Darin Mency '11 to the program, who won consecutive Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year awards in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Both players went on to score over 2,000 points in their careers and were three-time NE-10 All-Conference selections, in addition to their All-America accolades. Gallo also brought Wayne Mack '12 to the program before departing in 2009, with Mack leaving his mark as a 1,000-point scorer and eventually became Gallo's third recruit to earn All-America recognition.

The alumnus graduated from Merrimack in 2004 after a successful playing career, earning a business degree with a concentration in management. He received a Masters degree in Organizational leadership from Robert Morris University in 2019. 

Gallo currently resides in Salem, N.H. with his wife Megan and their sons, Joseph Andrew Gallo Jr. and Trey Richard Gallo

Coaching Experience:
Merrimack College (2017-Present)
Robert Morris University (2012-16)
Dartmouth College (2010-12)
Merrimack College (2005-09)