CLEVELAND — Antony Bonavita has ascended to executive vice president of the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the NBA executive will forever be grateful to Stony Brook for serving as a launching pad for his career.

"I owe everything to Stony Brook," Bonavita said, "including meeting my wife there."

Bonavita began as an intern in the athletic department in 1993, helping  with the university's sports facilities' marketing efforts. He joined the staff full time two years later, and remained through 2008, when he joined the NBA's San Antonio Spurs in a similar capacity.

While at Stony Brook, he met his future wife, Jaclyn Daigneault, a women's basketball player at the school.
 
He ultimately earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in leadership and management from Stony Brook.

"My career and my personal life resulted from my time at Stony Brook," Bonavita said.

Like Bonavita, Daigneault had remained at Stony Brook after her undergraduate days, which included appearing in 91 basketball games from 1996-97 through 1999-2000. She subsequently served as a graduate assistant coach with the Seawolves, and had a full-time role as an advisor in the School of Professional Development.

The couple had been married 10 months when she encouraged her husband to accept the job in San Antonio, even if it meant her leaving her own full-time job at Stony Brook.

"She's the one who said, 'You've got to follow your dreams,'" Bonavita said.

After two years as the assistant general manager of the AT&T Center, the home of the Spurs, Bonavita moved on to the Cavaliers. There, his role has expanded from facility operations to overseeing other aspects of the business. That includes playing a leadership role in the $250 million transformation of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
 
"My role here has grown, and I appreciate all the opportunities I have been afforded," Bonavita said. "While my responsibilities have broadened, at the core of it, I'm still a facilities guy. That's who I am, and that's probably who I'll always be."

Stony Brook's athletic venues have improved exponentially since Bonavita oversaw the facilities, including the opening of a fieldhouse in January.

Bonavita fondly recalled the football facility before the opening of Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

"Past the baseball fields there was a stadium with old wood bleachers and a wooden press box," Bonavita said. "Adam McLeod, who is facilities director now, worked for me when I was there. He knows. There was a lot of physical labor involved in setting up the events — literally carrying sound systems up the stairs in the old football stadium is what we did. We painted all the fields. We did all the work. It was a good time back then."