DiCenzo Still Bleeds Scarlet and Brown

After spending four years at St. Lawrence University as a student-athlete and four more as a graduate assistant coach, it wasn't easy for Greg DiCenzo '98, M'00, '02 to leave Canton.  

A Duxbury, Massachusetts, native, DiCenzo came to St. Lawrence to play soccer for former men's soccer coach and current Director of Athletics and Recreation Bob Durocher. While DiCenzo's college soccer career was short-lived, he ended up making the baseball team, and eventually found his way to the football field as the Saints' punter and place kicker. He earned two graduate degrees while serving as an assistant coach for both the baseball and football teams before landing a full-time job as an assistant baseball coach at NCAA Division I Northeastern, less than an hour from his hometown.

"That's the biggest risk I ever took," says DiCenzo. "I cried for six and a half hours, driving from Canton to Boston, not wanting to leave. But I knew it was the right choice at the time."

After five seasons as an assistant coach at Northeastern, DiCenzo took his first head coaching job at Holy Cross, where he helped turn a program that hadn't posted a .500 record in 17 seasons into a perennial contender for the Patriot League title. The Crusaders won the league's regular season title in 2013, and DiCenzo led the squad to its first Patriot League tournament crown in 2017 to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 39 years.

In January, just three weeks before Holy Cross was set to begin its 2020 season, DiCenzo took another big risk, jumping to the professional baseball ranks as the manager for the Lake County Captains, the full-season Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

"I often asked our players (at Holy Cross) to get outside of their comfort zone and take chances, to take risks," says DiCenzo. "It's really hard for me to say that and have it mean something when I hadn't taken any real risks since leaving St. Lawrence to go to Northeastern.

"To leave Holy Cross, it needed to be for something that really blew my doors off. And the Cleveland Indians are known as one of the most reputable organizations in professional sports in terms of their development strategies with the players and their coaching staff. I really felt like this was an opportunity for me to take a chance, to grow professionally and continue to learn. I'm 44 years old, too, so there's not a heck of a lot of sand left in the hourglass in terms of making that jump to professional baseball."

The Captains were in the midst of spring training in Arizona when minor league baseball was shut down and players and team personnel were sent home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball recently announced an agreement between the owners and the players to play a 60-game regular-season schedule starting on July 23, but it's still unclear whether minor league teams will have a season at all in 2020.

"I'm anticipating that our minor league season will be cooked for this whole year," says DiCenzo. "Who'da thunk that I'd still be undefeated by the All Star Break?"

While DiCenzo is currently unable to practice with his team in person, he is still working hard to connect with his players as they await word on when they will be able to meet again.

"We just recently divided guys up into remote coaching rosters, and that's kicking it into a different gear," says DiCenzo.

Nicknamed "Scruff" for his ever-present 5 o'clock shadow, DiCenzo's gregarious personality and winning smile draw people in; no one can spin a better yarn. Two years ago, DiCenzo returned to campus for Reunion Weekend. At the Saints Athletics Golf Tournament, a small crowd of athletic department staff and alumni gathered at the clubhouse at the Oliver D. Appleton Golf Course as he told old stories about his days in Canton as a student and coach.  

"My eight years there was all about the relationships and the people that you meet," said DiCenzo. "I've leaned on those people that I met up in the North Country almost daily in some capacity, reaching back out to that St. Lawrence network. It's like no other place that I've seen, having worked in the college setting for 20-plus years in a variety of different places. There's something incredibly unique about that St. Lawrence connection, and that's the reason why I still bleed Scarlet and Brown to this day."

There's evidence to back up DiCenzo's sentiments. The Princeton Review currently ranks St. Lawrence fourth on its "Best Alumni Network Ranking" list.

DiCenzo says that even in a socially distant world, current St. Lawrence student-athletes should take advantage of this time to build connections.  

"This unique circumstance that we're in creates a lot of opportunities," says DiCenzo. "Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't. Get out there and do something. Get creative in your ability to connect with people."

As for prospective students considering St. Lawrence, DiCenzo's advice is simple.

"Apply," he says. "Apply early decision. Go. It will change your life."

This is the first in a series of Alumni Spotlight features on SaintsAthletics.com. If you are interested in being featured, please let us know about it by filling out our alumni spotlight questionnaire.