Danny Goncalves, who has a varied background as a coach and player, is entering his 11th season at the helm of the Highlanders after being selected the choice to lead the NJIT men’s volleyball program in 2014-15.
Goncalves has more than 15 years volleyball coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels, as well as extensive experience in club volleyball as an organizer, player, and coach.
The 2021 Bob Sweeny Coach of the Year led the Highlanders to a 13-6 overall mark and second in the EIVA with a 13-3 record. The 13 wins are the most wins for NJIT since 2017.
NJIT made its first appearance in program history in the NVA/AVCA top-10 on March 29, 2021 at No. 10 and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final rankings.
Goncalves' squad broke into the National Volleyball Association (NVA)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's Coaches top-15 poll after splitting a weekend EIVA series with then-ranked No. 11 Penn State on February 14, 2021. The win for the Highlanders marked the first time since 1998 NJIT defeated Penn State.
The 11-3 start was the best since 2007, when the Highlanders went 10-4 and the nine consecutive victories is the most in a row since 2017.
Three Highlanders earned All-American accolades -- Alvaro Gimeno (AVCA second team), Luca Berger (AVCA Honorable Mention) and Griffin Fieseler (OffTheBlock Freshmen All-American team).
Gimeno, a two-time AVCA All-American, four-time EIVA first-team and All-Academic team selectee, Gimeno concluded his collegiate career at NJIT with 990 kills (3.38kps), 396 digs (1.35dps), 176 total blocks (0.60) and 138 service aces. Gimeno went on to sign a contract to play professional volleyball for Rio Duero Soria volleyball club in Spain on June 23.
In 2017, NJIT finished with 13 wins, including a win over then-ranked #15 George Mason (3-2) on February 17. NJIT last defeated a top-ranked opponent five years ago (April 13, 2012) when the Highlanders stunned No. 15 Harvard. Senior Jabarry Goodridge a two-time AVCA All-American and EIVA Player of the Year, ranked second in the nation in kills per set (4.43) and points per set (5.15) while sitting in the top 5 in attacks per set (9.08). Goodridge concluded his four-year career at NJIT with 1,450 kills.
The Highlanders completed its 2016 season with an 8-18 overall mark, 7-7 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) competition. The 2016 season was highlighted by a six-match win streak (longest win streak since 2007), when NJIT beat Princeton twice in the same year was 2008, but it took the Highlanders three matches to do it in that season.
In his first season at the helm of the Highlanders, NJIT finished 11-13, surpassing their wins output from a year ago, when the team finished 10-17. Men’s volleyball marked one of the best performances against the formidable and perennial EIVA champion Penn State on March 28, taking the (then) No. 8 team in the nation to five sets.
He was an all-conference player at Shelton (CT) High School before playing collegiate volleyball at the University of New Haven in the early 2000s. After college, he played professionally in Portugal with Castelo da Maia, a first-division team. A versatile player, he saw action as a libero (defensive specialist) and as an outside hitter and opposite hitter (key attacking positions).
He began coaching at his high school alma mater, Shelton High, where he helped guide the boys teams to two Connecticut state championships, two undefeated seasons, and three conference titles.
Moving on to his college alma mater, New Haven, he was assistant coach, then head coach of the men’s team and assistant coach of the women’s team from 2008 through 2010. In his time coaching at UNH, the women’s team won two titles in the Northeast 10 Conference. The Charger women made the NCAA Division II postseason tournament in all of his three seasons as an assistant coach and made a run to 2008 NCAA Division II Elite Eight, where they fell to eventual national champion Concordia-St. Paul.
Next, he headed to another Connecticut institution, Division I Sacred Heart University, where he was an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s team, with the women capturing a Northeast Conference championship.
Most recently, he has been Volleyball Director at Chelsea Piers Connecticut in Stamford. The volleyball center in Stamford features instruction, private lessons, youth and adult leagues, tournaments and summer camps. Chelsea Piers Connecticut is a sports and entertainment complex developed and managed by the same management team as the acclaimed Chelsea Piers in New York City.
As a college player at New Haven, Goncalves finished his career ranked eighth on the Chargers’ career charts, with 680.5 individual points. He is eighth at UNH in career kills (504) and seventh in career assists (146). He is the school’s Top 10 in service aces (66), digs (421; fourth), and total blocks (177; 44 solo, 133 assisted).
Aside from his professional career in Portugal, he has remained active in the region with some of the top adult men’s volleyball clubs in the New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut region.
Updated July 2021
