Todd Fazio

Todd Fazio has 19 years of high school and college coaching experience and is the founder of Roots Hoops Academy. Coach Fazio spent the last four years as Red Mountain High School’s head boys basketball coach and physical education department chair. During his coaching tenure, the Mountain Lions averaged 17 wins per season and qualified for the Arizona state tournament in all four seasons.

The 2016-17 proved to be a special season for Red Mountain basketball. Fazio’s Mountain Lions finished the year with an 18-9 overall record, winning 11 games in a row, a school record. The team won the East Valley Region for only the second time in school history with a 9-1 region record, and qualified for the state tournament. Coach Fazio was named 2016-17 East Valley Region Coach of the Year. Prior to coaching at Red Mountain, Coach Fazio was the head coach at Desert Mountain High School for eight seasons. During the eight-year stretch, Coach Fazio’s teams amassed a record of 144-88 with a 2007 state championship, two final four appearances in 2011 & 2013, and qualifying for the state tournament all eight seasons.

Prior to Coach Fazio’s arrival, the basketball program qualified for the state tournament two times with no post-season wins. Coach Fazio has the most career coaching wins at Desert Mountain and was the 2007 5A Coach of the Year and the Desert Valley Region Coach of the Year in 2009 & 2011 during his tenure at Desert Mountain. Coach Fazio is a founding member of the Arizona Basketball Coaches Association (ABCA) and was the organization's president for three years.

His previous head coaching experience includes stints in Iowa at Waukee High School and Estherville-Lincoln Central High School. Coach Fazio was also a graduate assistant coach at Bemidji State University, (Bemidji, Minnesota). Coach Fazio played at Bemidji State University from 1996-98 for Coach Dave Gunther, where he was a two-year team captain and starter and led the Beavers in assists and steals. From 1995-96, Fazio played at Iowa Lakes Community College for Coach Bob Grems. He was the team captain and starter for a Lakers team that ended the year with a 24-8 record and finished the season ranked 7th in the nation. Fazio was fourth in the nation in assists (8.9 per game) and also led the team in steals. Fazio began his collegiate playing career at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. He was the team captain for the Plainsmen and led the Western Junior College Athletic Conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 49.7%.

An Iowa native, Fazio was a 3-sport athlete at West Des Moines Valley High School, participating in cross country, basketball, & track. As a junior, Fazio was a team captain for the 1993 Iowa 4A state championship team. In his senior season, he was an Iowa First Team All-State selection. Coach Fazio resides in Phoenix with his wife, Charlene, and their daughter, Isabella (9).