Tom Pecora enters his sixth season as the Head Coach of the Hofstra Men's Basketball program in 2006-07. Pecora was named the 10th head coach in Hofstra Men's Basketball history when he was promoted to the position on March 28, 2001, after serving for seven years as an assistant under former head coach Jay Wright.

Pecora currently has an 81-72 record as Hofstra's head coach, including 47-16 in the last two years. Those two seasons have seen the Pride earn consecutive bids to the Postseason NIT, including an appearance in the quarterfinals in 2006. Those two NIT wins (over Nebraska and Saint Joseph's) marked the first two Division I postseason victories in school history, while the 26 overall wins in 2005-06 tied a school record. He was named the District 2 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for his efforts.

Over his seven years as an assistant, Pecora had an integral role in building Hofstra up into one of the top mid-major programs in the country, including a 50-12 record and back-to-back America East Conference Championships in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. His efforts as an Assistant Coach culminated in a 26-5 record in 2000-01, when the Pride tied the school record for most wins in a season.

Pecora stepped into the head coaching position in 2001-02 and led a Pride team with no seniors on the roster to the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in its first season as members of the CAA. His first two career coaching victories came over teams which would move on to the 2002 NCAA Tournament, including a 67-64 victory over Kent State, which eventually reached the Elite Eight.

Hofstra has improved its Colonial Athletic Association record in each of its first five seasons under Pecora, including a third-place finish in 2005-06 and a fourth-place finish in 2004-05. Hofstra ended the 2004-05 campaign with a 21-9 overall record, only its sixth 20-win season at the NCAA Division I level, and earned a berth in the Postseason NIT. The NIT bid was Hofstra's sixth all-time Division I postseason appearance, an accomplishment which helped Pecora earn the Coach of the Year award from the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY).

In 2003-04, Pecora guided Hofstra through the toughest schedule in the history of the program, including a four-game stretch against Georgia Tech, Providence, Maryland and St. John's. The Pride finished 14-15, including its first winning record in the CAA at 10-8, while handing St. John's its second-worst loss ever at its on-campus facility (81-64).

Pecora spent his last three seasons under Wright as the program's Associate Head Coach. Under his direction as recruiting coordinator, the Pride was consistently recognized as having the top recruiting classes in both the America East Conference and the East by publications such as Eastern Basketball and Hoop Scoop. In 2000-01, recruiting analyst Clark Francis referred to Hofstra's recruiting class as "the steal of the early signing period" in USA Today as the Pride landed two players who were among the 100 finalists for the McDonald's All-American game.

In addition to his duties as recruiting coordinator, Pecora served as Hofstra's director of scouting, scheduling coordinator and was responsible for the individual development of post players while an assistant.

Pecora also had prior experience in running a program, serving as head basketball coach at the State University of New York at Farmingdale from 1989-92. In three seasons at Farmingdale, the Rams posted a 62-24 record, captured the Region 15 championship in 1992 (when they finished 20-9), advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament and were ranked as one of the nation's top 20 junior college programs. He quickly built the program up from an 18-11 record in his first season (1989-90) to a 24-4 record in 1990-91. Along the way, Pecora coached two junior college All-Americans, Sam Rowe (1990) and Arthur Anderson (1991).

Pecora came to Hofstra in 1994 after serving as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator under John Olive at Loyola Marymount during the 1993-94 basketball season. He also served as an assistant, along with Jay Wright, to Rollie Massimino at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1992-93.

A native of Queens Village, New York, Pecora is a 1983 graduate of Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Following graduation from Adelphi with a bachelor's in physical education and health, he served as an assistant coach to Bob McKillop at Long Island Lutheran High School from 1984 through 1987. Pecora then served as an assistant coach to Stu Klein at Nassau Community College in Garden City from 1987 through 1989. During his tenure at Nassau Community College, the Lions posted back-to-back 25-win seasons and in 1989 played in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament for the only time in school history. He was inducted into the Adelphi Hall of Fame in 2002.

Pecora is also a familiar figure in the community, as he is actively involved with several charities, including Coaches vs. Cancer, Wheelchair Charities, Father Hartman's Christa House, the Dante Foundation and several others. He also organizes free basketball clinics for local children at several Long Island area recreation centers and parks during the summer. He has served as the chairman for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Charity Golf Classic, which is entering its fifth year this summer.

Pecora and his wife, the former Mary Beth Cantwell, reside in Williston Park, New York, with their daughters, Amanda and Brianna, and their son, Sean.