ALTOONA, Pa. – Billy Clapper has been hired as the head coach of men’s basketball for Penn State Altoona. Clapper was an assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown from 2007 to 2009, helping the team to back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament berths. The Mountain Cats earned the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship in 2008 and the WVIAC tournament championship in 2009 while they posted a 47-16 record during his time with the program. 

Prior to joining the UPJ staff, Clapper held assistant men’s basketball coaching positions at Penn State Altoona from 2005 to 2006, where he was active in recruiting some of the players currently on the team, and Indiana State University, where he worked as a graduate assistant from 2006 to 2007.

Clapper began his college playing career at Mount Aloysius College and continued on to Division I Youngstown State University. He holds a master’s degree in Educational Technology from Indiana State University.

Clapper has delivered instruction as a clinician at over 225 basketball camps, including camps at universities such as Dayton, Duquesne, Louisville, North Carolina State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Rutgers, West Virginia and Xavier. He is the founder of Billy Clapper Basketball LLC., and he created the instructional basketball video “Ball Handling at Its Best.”

Clapper was also the regional basketball coordinator of the Pennsylvania Keystone State Games, where he served as a head coach, planned team tryouts and oversaw the recruitment of athletes in a seven county region.

Clapper is a strong advocate for community involvement by his players.

“Billy has a true passion for the game of basketball, and he brings a great deal of enthusiasm to our program,” said Penn State Altoona Athletics Director Fredina Ingold. “We look forward to him continuing the growth and success of our men’s basketball program.”