Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- mluneau@syr.edu
- Phone:
- 3761
In his eight years on the Orange coaching staff, Matt Luneau has been involved in perfecting the game of Syracuse’s post players, as well as assisting in opponent scouting and gameplan preparation. Recently, he helped recruit current sophomore center Kayla Alexander, who became just the 15th player in Syracuse history to be named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team. Alexander finished first on the team with 1.9 blocks per game, second in field-goal percentage (.542) and third in scoring with 10.8 points per game. Her 115 free throws made and 164 attempts were also team highs.
SU-CCESS
In 2008-09, Luneau assisted with the development of current junior Troya Berry, who finished her debut season with a career-high 11 points and six rebounds in Syracuse’s second round WNIT game at Bowling Green. Vionca Murray also took advantage of Luneau’s expertise, averaging 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. She made a team-best 52.3 percent of her field-goal attempts and 79.3 percent of her free throws.
Luneau was part of history in 2007-08 as protégé Fantasia Goodwin set the Syracuse single-game standard with 25 rebounds when she pulled down a career-high eight offensive and 17 defensive boards against Saint Peter’s. Murray also capitalized on Luneau’s techniques, finishing fifth on the team with 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Luneau was a part of the all-around success of Vaida Sipaviciute in 2006-07. Sipaviciute is the 16th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points and she is third on Syracuse’s career block chart with 179. She was first on the team in blocks (1.9), second in points (13.6) and third in rebounding (5.8).
Luneau’s 2005 recruiting class ranked 45th-best in the nation according to the All-Star Girls Report, one of the premier basketball recruiting publications in America.
After one year as an assistant, Luneau was promoted to associate head coach in 2004 and made his presence felt immediately. The Orange’s first recruiting class was ranked 24th in the nation by the Blue Star Index. Of the five freshmen who made up the 2004-05 class, three were McDonald’s All-America “Dream 100” picks, while another was ranked in the top 100 by the National Roundball Journal.
In 2003, Luneau recruited All-BIG EAST Second Team member Sipaviciute from the Patterson School. Current SU head coach Quentin Hillsman was the head coach of the Patterson School at that time.
PRIOR TO JOINING THE ORANGE
Luneau coached for one season as an assistant at Vermont prior to his arrival in Syracuse.
Before joining the Catamounts, Luneau spent five seasons as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Siena College. During his tenure with the Saints, the team won four MAAC regular-season championships. The 2000-01 team captured the school’s first MAAC Tournament title and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He recruited both Gunta Basko and Liene Jansone from Latvia. Basko was a two-time conference Player of the Year (2000-01, 2001-02), while Jansone earned the MAAC Rookie of the Year Award in 2000-01 and the MAAC Player of the Year Award in 2002-03.
Luneau began his coaching career in 1990 as an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Peoples Academy in Morrisville, Vt. He was an assistant for the men’s team at Johnson State College from 1991-93 and the head boys’ varsity coach at Richford High School in Richford, Vt. from 1992-94.
His last stop before Siena was as an assistant women’s coach at The College of St. Rose from 1994-97. In his three seasons, the Golden Knights recorded an 81-11 mark and made three trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. In his final season, the team was 29-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Luneau earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Johnson State in 1991 and a master’s degree in special education from The College of St. Rose in 1997.
He and his wife, Ilze, have three daughters, Iliana, Marika and Evangelica.
