Sports Medicine Staff

Roger Olean, Med, ATC, Head Athletic Trainer

Olean, who is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association and is licensed by the State of New Jersey, began his career as an intercollegiate athletic trainer in 1992 and is returning to NJIT, where he was head trainer from 2000 to 2005.

Most recently, he was athletic trainer at the State University of New York Cobleskill College, where he has been on staff since 2006.

Olean, who earned his bachelor's degree from Slippery Rock (PA) University in 1991 and his master's degree from Springfield (MA) College in 1998, has served on the training staffs at four colleges and three high schools.

He began his intercollegiate training career at Hood College in 1992 and also worked on the Springfield College staff while he was pursuing his master's degree. He was NJIT's head trainer for five years and is completing his second year at SUNY Cobleskill. Olean has worked at two high schools in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware during his career.

Michael Douglas, MS/ATC, Assistant Athletic Trainer

Douglas, a native of Newark, has an extensive athletic training background, having worked in professional and collegiate environments in a career that began in 1995.

Most recently before NJIT, he was head trainer of the Women's National Basketball Association Houston Comets, a job he held after serving as head trainer/Director of Basketball Operations for the NBA Development League Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

Combining those stops with a multi-year stint as assistant trainer with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, Douglas holds the distinction of being the only athletic trainer to serve teams in all three leagues that fall under the NBA umbrella.

At the collegiate level, he was head athletic trainer at Palm Beach Atlantic University and at Spelman College in Atlanta. He was also a graduate assistant trainer at his undergraduate alma mater, Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Douglas has additional experience as a summer assistant trainer with the NFL Buffalo Bills in three different seasons and he was head trainer of the Richmond (VA) Rhythm of the International Basketball League.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and his master's degree from Life University School of Graduate Studies in Georgia.

Louis Rizio, MD, Team Physician

Dr. Rizio is a board certified orthopedic surgeon and is fellowship trained in the field of sports medicine. He is a graduate of Rutgers and after earning his medical degree from the UMDNJ/New Jersey Medical School, Dr. Rizio completed his orthopedic residency at Tufts University in Boston.

He then completed a sports medicine fellowship at the University of Miami. During his fellowship, he was assistant team physician of the Miami Dolphins, University of Miami Hurricanes, and the Florida Marlins.

Dr. Rizio, who specializes in sports-related injuries, practices at the New Jersey Sports Medicine Institute. Prior to starting his own practice, Dr Rizio was the Chief of Sports Medicine at the NJ Medical School from 2000-2005. He currently is a professional (New Jersey Pride professional lacrosse), college, and high school team physician.

Rutvik (Rudy) Patel, DO, Team Physician

Dr. Patel practices in association with Dr. Rizio. A cum laude graduate of New York Institute of Technology, Dr. Patel earned his DO from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.

He was chief resident in Family Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, from 2003 to 2006.