[1] He was the second longest tenured head men's basketball coach at Quinnipiac University.
[2] DeSantis is best remembered as "Joey D" and his role in leading the 1978 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team to a program best 22–5 overall record, a victory over the then #14 nationally ranked Holy Cross Crusaders, and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.
DeSantis was the fifth head coach of the Quinnipiac University men's basketball team.
[3] DeSantis also served as an assistant at his alma mater, Fairfield University, for seven years (1981–88) during which the Stags twice won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and qualified for the 1986 and 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments.
[6] DeSantis opted to play with Reyer Venezia Mestre in the Lega Basket Serie A in 1979–80, where he achieved all-star status.