Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Steve Piotrowicz returns for the first season of his second stint as an assistant coach on the IUP men's basketball staff in 2023-24. 

He returns to Indiana following a four years as the head basketball coach at Cathedral Prep in Erie since 2019. A 2008 graduate of Cathedral Prep, Piotrowicz helped guide the Ramblers to a combined 76-24 (.760) mark during his tenure and the school’s first PIAA State Championship in 28 seasons during the 2021 campaign.  

In total, Piotrowicz had a pair of state semifinal appearances, two region titles, two District 10 crowns and the 2021 PIAA state title at Prep. He helped 10 student-athletes to collegiate playing careers and earned recognition as the PIAA Coach of the Year, the D9/D10 Coach of the Year and the Northwestern Pennsylvania High School Sports Coach of the Year.  

Piotrowicz began his initial coaching stint at IUP as a graduate assistant and volunteer assistant in 2012-13 before being hired on full-time as an assistant coach with the Crimson Hawks the following season. He worked with head coach Joe Lombardi in a multitude of areas during his initial stint with the program, coaching five All-American selections, making a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and winning a PSAC championship in 2012-13.  

Prior to IUP, Piotrowicz was a student-athlete at Gannon University from 2009 to 2012. He joined the Golden Knights after playing one season at Penn State Behrend. While at Gannon, Piotrowicz started in 28 career games, scoring 348 points in his three years there. In his junior season with the Golden Knights, he ranked sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.425), led the team in three-point field goal percentage and assists (68).  

In 2011 he received the Division II Athletics Directors Academic Achievement award and was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court, reserved for juniors and seniors with at least one year of residency at their current school and a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the academic year.

Piotrowicz is an Erie native and graduated from Gannon in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and marketing. He attended Cathedral Prep High School as two-time all-region selection, being named to the first team as a senior.