Bio

Longtime athletics administrator, Dr. Joe Cascio, begins his first year in 2024 as Rio Hondo College’s Dean of Kinesiology & Athletics.

Cascio brings over 14 years of athletics administration experience at the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) level. 

Cascio comes to Rio Hondo after serving the last nine years as Director of Athletics at Porterville College. During his tenure at Porterville, Cascio oversaw the largest sport expansion in the college's history, adding seven new sports to the department (men's & women's cross country, men's and women's track, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis). The number of student-athletes in the department nearly doubled due to this expansion.

Prior to Porterville, Cascio began his career in Southern California, holding the positions of Director of Athletics at Long Beach City College (2013-15) and Athletics Project Manager at Santa Monica College (2010-13). While at Santa Monica, he also served as an adjunct faculty member and was Associate Head Coach of the SMC men’s basketball team from 2007-2010. Cascio has over 20 years of coaching experience ranging from high school, AAU, and college.

Cascio earned a doctorate of educational leadership from Grand Canyon University in 2023. His research focused on the effects of coach leadership on student-athlete academic success. He also earned a master’s degree in physical education administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2008 and received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2007. He was also a student in the California community college system and earned an associate degree in physical education from El Camino College in 2005.

Cascio, his wife Yolanda, and their three children hail from Redondo Beach. His oldest daughter, Jessica is a human resources professional, daughter Marissa is a senior client relations specialist, and son Jackson is an assistant men’s basketball coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Cascio’s also have two grandchildren – Olivia (8) and Jonathan (2).