College Coaches Skills Camp

College Coaches Skills Camp

Featuring Chris Madonna

Chris Madonna is in his first season as an assistant coach at Villanova. He is serving the team as the hitting coach and first base coach, and will also work with the outfielders. Madonna is a former collegiate player at the University of North Carolina and played in the 2000 Olympics for Italy.

With the Wildcats, Madonna joins a program that is on the upswing after qualifying for the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time in a decade in 1997. He will inherit a group of position players that returns nine players to the starting lineup. As a team, the 2007 Villanova squad batted .286 with a .380 on-base percentage and 89 stolen bases.

Madonna brings a wealth of playing experience in both the professional and international ranks. He joins head coach Joe Godri's coaching staff along with pitching coach/recruiting coordinator Matt Kirby and senior assistant coach/third base coach Rod Johnson. Kirby returns for his second season at Villanova and Johnson becomes the team's senior assistant coach in his seventh season with the program.

During his collegiate playing career, Madonna played at the University of North Carolina and graduated from the school in 1994. He joined the Zanesville Greys of the independent Frontier League but was soon signed by the New York Mets. Madonna would also go on to play for the Tri-City Posse in the Western League in 1996. The Boston Red Sox signed Madonna in 1997 and he played with the Class-A Michigan Battle Cats and the Class-AA Trenton Thunder. Madonna batted .341 in 14 games for Trenton but had his season cut short by an elbow injury. He also played in the Oakland Athletics organization in 2001 as well as in the New York Yankees organization.

The first taste of international experience for Madonna came in 2000 where he played for Cantine Ceci Parma in Italy's Serie A1, the top level of the Italian professional league. Madonna was a .400 hitter for the Parma team with 15 home runs, 39 runs batted in, a .540 on-base percentage and a .522 slugging percentage. He was chosen for the Olympic team and would also play for Italy during the 2001 Baseball World Cup. Madonna hit .286 with a .348 on-base percentage and a .429 slugging percentage to lead the Italian team during World Cup play.

Madonna and his wife, Karen, reside in Mantua, N.J.