Michael P. Lunney of Portsmouth will start his new job as executive director of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League on Aug. 1.

PORTSMOUTH — Michael P. Lunney, a former longtime athletic director and basketball coach at Portsmouth High School, has been appointed executive director of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL).

The RIIL Principals’ Committee on Athletics unanimously voted to appoint Mr. Lunney, currently the league’s assistant executive director, to the top position at its Feb. 26 meeting. He starting date is Aug. 1, 2020.

He will succeed Thomas A. Mezzanotte, who last November announced his retirement at the end of the 2019-20 school year after serving 16 years as executive director.

“It has been a pleasure working with Mike for the last nine years,” Mr. Mezzanotte said. “He has helped the league grow and expand and develop in many positive ways. Through his leadership, the league will continue to provide educational based athletics and serve the needs of our student-athletes. He will do a tremendous job.”

Mr. Lunney lives in Portsmouth with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Jill. Jill, a PHS senior who was a member of the varsity girls’ volleyball team, will attend the University of Rhode Island’s nursing program as an honors student in the fall.

Mr. Lunney has served in his current position as assistant executive director since 2011. Before that, he served for 16 years as the director of athletics and student activities at PHS, where he also served two stints as the Patriots’ boys basketball coach, from 1995 to 1998 and from 2006 to 2011.

Rhode Island’s first athletic administrator to serve on the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Board of Directors, he was the recipient of the 2016 NIAAA Distinguished Service Award. That same year, he was presented with the Men Who Make a Difference Award by the Women’s Resource Center of Newport. 

While an AD, Mr. Lunney served stints as RIIL sport director for golf and baseball and sat on numerous other RIIL committees. He has served on the Officials Advisory Committee and Coaches Education Committee for the National Federation of State High School Associations and has also served as president of the Council of New England Secondary School Principals’ Association. 

Lunney’s vast experience in his prior positions proved to be invaluable when he came on board at the RIIL, Mr. Mezzanotte said.

With his ability to see different issues through an athletic director’s eyes, “that brought a tremendous perspective to this organization,” Mr. Mezzanotte said. “There was no question about that. He stands for what he believes in and that’s the mission of this organization. I’ll be very happy, and I think our colleagues in New England and nationally are very happy that Mike’s taking over.”

Athlete, coach

A member of the Bristol High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the 52-year-old Lunney was a three-sport athlete at the former Bristol High School in the mid-1980s, earning All-League honors in football, basketball and baseball. He went on to be a four-year varsity letterman for the University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team. 

Months after graduating from UNH, Lunney became assistant men’s basketball coach at Roger Williams University and then in 1992 became the youngest head men’s basketball coach in the NCAA.

While coaching at Portsmouth, he was named the R.I. Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three times, guiding the Patriots to two R.I. State Championships (the Class B title in 1996 and the Division II title in 2010), three league championships (1997, 2006 and 2010) and two Providence Journal Dick Reynolds Sportsmanship Awards (1996 and 2009).

“My connection to the League dates back to the early 1980s as a three-sport student athlete at Bristol High School,” Mr. Lunney said. “I’m a product of the RIIL and those participation opportunities had a profound impact on my development as an athlete and person. 

“I believe in our mission, which is to provide educational based athletic opportunities for the more than 36,000 students that participate in our league annually. The role of our office is to work on behalf of our member school Principals to provide them the education, support, and guidance needed to administer their athletic programs. 

“I’m proud of the many accomplishments that the RIIL has made under Tom Mezzanotte’s leadership and share his passion in continuing to adapt, evolve and improve the organization into the future.”