Joe Lombardi was officially introduced as the new head coach at IUP. The second line was still the best part of the press release.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletic Director Frank Condino has announced the appointment of Joe Lombardi as the university’s new head men’s basketball coach. The hiring was made following a national search.

Define “national.”

Lombardi’s wife, Janet, grew up in Indiana, Pa., and Lombardi spent eight seasons in the Blairsville area while at St. Francis and IUP.

The other finalists for the job were Jim Boone, the former coach at California University of Pa., Robert Morris and Eastern Michigan, and John Sanow, an assistant at Vermont and a former player at IUP in the early 1980s.

Lombardi said IUP was the only Division II job he would have accepted and he never considered going halfway around the country to become a head coach at a Division I school whose program is badly in need of repair.

“I haven’t had to travel long distances to pursue my career,” said Lombardi, who isn’t close to naming his assistants. “When you reach a certain age, you want to put down roots. IUP is where I want to be with my family.”

This is not to poke fun at Joe Lombardi. By all accounts, he is a fine coach, did a good job at Pitt and appears to have his family’s interests at heart in his job choice.

This is to poke some fun at IUP and the school’s administration.

The Indians play an NCAA Division II schedule, but school president Tony Atwater confirmed the program is studying the benefits of moving up to Division I. The football program also is studying a move to Division I-AA.

“Division I is something I’ve decided to not take off the table,” Atwater said. “If you don’t have dreams, you can’t accomplish great things.”

Atwater said the basketball program won’t move next season but could make the transition in a couple of years.

“It’s still on the table at this point,” he said. “We are exploring interest.”

The chance for IUP to move up from exhibition to patsy game against Pitt. Groovy.