Molinari graduated from Glenbard West High School, where he starred on its varsity boys' basketball team.
A 6'1" (1.85 meters) guard who wore uniform number 30, he appeared in 22 games, including a 95–87 defeat to Syracuse in the NCAA East Regional Final at the Providence Civic Center on March 22, 1975.
[9] Molinari spent eleven seasons as an assistant coach for both Ray and Joey Meyer at DePaul University.
His first head coaching assignment began on April 28, 1989, when he replaced Jim Rosborough at Northern Illinois University (NIU).
[10] A combined 42–17 in his two seasons at NIU, the Huskies finished the 1990–91 campaign with the second-best team defense in the nation which allowed 57.5 points a game, a program-best 25–6 record and an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
His most successful campaign was 1995–96 when he was named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Coach of the Year and the Braves earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.