When Dan Luisi stepped onto the Post University campus for his freshman season back in 2006, there was no telling what the Bethpage, New York native would be capable of both on and off the field for the Eagles. In fact, it almost did not happen at all after his freshman year at the campus in Waterbury, Connecticut. Luisi, who turned into a four-year stud for the Post University Baseball team, nearly exited after his freshman season with the team, a year in which he never touched the field.
But former Head Baseball Coach and current Associate Director of Athletics, AJ McNamara would help change Luisi’s arc at Post and shape his journey into the man he has become today. But that journey was not easy for Luisi who had to start at the bottom for the Eagles and work his way up to beat out others and land a spot in the starting nine. But McNamara would give him a chance to, and it would ultimately pay off not just for the team, but in the record books as well.
Luisi would become a three-year captain for Post while starting at second base for four season after redshirting his freshman year and exited as the current all-time leader in hits with 193, runs scored with 115, at-bats with 638, and walks with 92. Additionally, the second baseman is fifth all-time in runs batted in with 74 and sixth in stolen bases with 26. He was a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Honorable Mention in 2008 and in 2010 was named First Team All-CACC and All-ECAC after a season in which he batted .323 with four doubles, 22 runs scored, and 14 runs batted in.
But for Luisi, it was never about the individual awards which he calls “icing on the cake: and more so about the improvement of the team. From a 13-win team to 18 wins the first season with McNamara at the helm to 25 wins in each of the following three season, and eventually in Luisi’s senior season being one hit away from becoming CACC Champions in 2010, the Eagles did just that. But through it all, Luisi credits McNamara and then-assistant coach as well as former head coach Ray Ricker for his success on the field. He says it was the culture that McNamara instilled at Post that helped make him a better person and leader.
That person and leader would graduate from Post with a Business Management Degree and with the help of McNamara reaching out to Keith Osik at Farmingdale State, quickly jump into the coaching ranks there. But only two seasons later, Luisi would return to Post University under McNamara as an assistant coach for a couple of years. Luisi called those seasons as a coach “the most transformational years of my life” and they led to a position at Stony Brook for the next three years of his career. For Luisi, coaching was something he knew he wanted to do when he left Post because of the positive impact AJ and other coaches at the university had on him during his four years.
Luisi’s journey would come full circle and he would have the chance to return to his former high school, Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, New York. The opportunity came following the retirement of his high school head coach Bob Malandro in 2017 and when Luisi took over the team it won just two games. However, over the years he was able to rebuild the team and transform it into a powerhouse which resulted in a 2023 season where they finished 21-8 and won the New York State CHSAA Championship, the first in school history.
The journey had come full circle for Luisi as a coach to lead his former high school to the top and because of that, about a month ago he was honored by the Greater New York Sandlot Association, an organization that helps raise money and facilitate baseball events in inner cities. At the November 16th dinner, Luisi was given the Coaching Excellence Award for Holy Trinity’s stellar season in which they won the Catholic League and were New York State Champions.
But through it all, Luisi remains humble in his approach to it all, crediting his team for their success and how well they played all season long. In fact, the team played so well that 13 of the players from his roster will be playing baseball at the collegiate level this upcoming spring. The award is more than just an award for the former Post standout and more about the impact he has been able to have as a coach at all different levels and the bond him and his players now have after making school history.
Luisi talked about how he attributes his success and this milestone to the way he was brought up as a player and how it transformed him along his journey to help him better connect with players, something he revels in being able to do. He calls it a testament to the people he had in his life to get to this point and the sacrifice he has made for his wife and two children in preparation for games which takes more time than the game of baseball itself. Once again, he circles it all back to Post as well too, crediting McNamara and Ricker for helping him become the coach he is and through that finding ways to succeed to reach his goals.
Even all these years later since leaving Post, Luisi still holds many memories from his times on campus as both a player and a coach as well as remains involved in the Post community. To this day, he still bonds and creates memories with his former teammates, one of which was his former roommate, fellow standout player, and current Post Baseball Head Coach Ray Skjold.
But regardless of the accolades and awards he has received, Luisi says this is who he is and nothing that happens in his life will change the way he feels about the role he has as a coach and what it means to help players, families, and children in the area. When not on the field, Luisi is currently running a training facility on Long Island as well, continuing his commitment to service throughout his life and being able to help kids reach their goals as players on the field and be somebody they can rely on to support him.