"Mark is a great addition to our staff," said Burke. "He's been consistently successful at the high school level, and he is well-respected and well-known throughout Connecticut, which should help us tremendously with our recruiting."

      As the head coach at Mancheser High, Caruso won four conference championships, reached the quarterfinal round of the state tournament on two occasions, and amassed a composite record of 51-5 in conference play. Before taking on the coaching duties at Manchester, he had been head girls' coach in Connecticut at Avon High School (1993-94) and Enfield High School (1987-1995).

      Caruso also spent one season (1985-86) as an assistant women's coach at Springfield College.

      Caruso is hardly a stranger to the Bryant program, with three of his former Connecticut Starters players currently on the Bulldog roster. Sophomore guard Lindsay Hermann (Bristol, CT), sophomore forward Tanya Iwanski (Manchester, CT) and incoming freshman guard Deneva Fogarty (Middletown, CT) all played for Caruso on the Starters' 17-year-old national team.

      Caruso replaces Beth Connealy as the Bulldogs' full-time assistant coach. Connealy left Bryant in July after four years as an assistant to take a similar position at South Carolina Aiken.