Nick DelTufo begins his tenth season as an assistant coach for the Caldwell men’s basketball program and third year as a volunteer assistant in 2023-24. DelTufo was an assistant coach at Caldwell from 1999-2002 and returned to Caldwell for the 2016-17 season.
During DelTufo's time at Caldwell, the Cougars experienced some of their best seasons, including last year's CACC Championship as well as the 2000-2001 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season championship and the 2001-02 campaign in which Caldwell went 25-6. In 2001-02, the Cougars captured the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA Tournament. The Cougars also reached the semi-finals of the CACC Championship in 2016-17, posting its best finish since 2006-07.
DelTufo was born and raised in Newark, NJ. He attended Essex Catholic High School from 1973-1977. He played for a program that won three Parochial A State Championships in four years, including his senior year as he led the team in scoring and rebounding. DelTufo began his collegiate career at Seton Hall University and later transferred to national powerhouse Upsala College. While at Upsula, he played for teams that made it to the NCAA Division III Regional Finals in the 1978-79 season and advanced to the NCAA DIII National Championship game in 1979-80.
Prior to coming to Caldwell, DelTufo was an assistant coach at Upsala College in 1987 and FDU-Madison from 1988-1991. He served as the head men’s basketball coach at Montclair State University from 1991-1997. DelTufo’s programs played in three NCAA DIII Tournaments as well as three ECAC Tournaments. He earned Division III Atlantic District Coach of the Year honors from National Association of Basketball Coaches and was named as the New Jersey College Basketball Coaches Association College Division Coach of the Year in 1994. DelTufo was inducted into the FDU-Madison Hall of Fame as an assistant coach for the 1988-89 team and he was inducted into the Essex Catholic Hall of Fame as a player for the 1976-77 team.
He graduated from Upsala College in 1981, earned a Master's in Education from East Stroudsburg in 1991 and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2000. DelTufo retired from the East Orange Public School District after a thirty-year career of which the last fourteen years were spent as a principal. In his retirement, Nick is a student and instructor of martial arts in which he holds advance degrees in Tae Kwon Do and Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has three adult children and resides in Mendham, N.J., with his wife Cyndy.
