Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
Niagara Assistant Headed to HS Power
Austin Kelly has departed the Niagara basketball staff, and will become an assistant coach at Montverde Academy. Kelly had been at Niagara since 2021, and also spent two seasons as the director of operations and recruiting coordinator at George Washington. Kelly had previously worked for new Montverde head coach Steve Turner at Gonzaga College High School (DC) from 2012-16.
Canisius Assistant Coach Search Update
I have heard that former Kent State standout Jimmy Hall is in the mix to replace Bill Wuczynski as an assistant at Canisius (Wuczynski became the head coach at NJCAA College of Lake County earlier this week). Hall played for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s and also spent time as a player at Hofstra before transferring to Kent State.
LIU Adds Three to Basketball Staff
Jamere Dismukes, Baronton Terry and Brionne Gillion have been added to Rod Strickland’s staff at LIU. No official statement from the school, but they all now appear on LIU’s roster. Dismukes led Homewood-Flossmoor HS (IL) to 81 wins over the last three seasons and the program’s first-ever state championship in 2024. Terry was the associate head coach at Chicago State when former LIU assistant Gerald Gillion was the head coach there (Gillion departed LIU earlier this spring to join the staff at Florida State). Brionne Gillion has been a long-time grassroots head coach.
Warner U Adds Assistant with D1 experience
Will Drescher, who spent last season as the Video Coordinator at Samford has been hired as an assistant coach at NAIA Warner University. The former manager under Bruce Pearl at Auburn was an assistant coach at New College (FL) before joining the Samford staff prior to last season.
Interviews Underway at Cal State San Marcos
On campus interviews are underway at D2 Cal State San Marcos. I have heard that former Academy of Art University head coach Scott Waterman is involved here. Waterman had spent the past six seasons as the head coach at ArtU, but lost his job when the school announced that they are discontinuing athletics. During his tenure at the D2 school, Waterman went 96-71 (.575), including winning 19+ games in each of the last four seasons. More names here as I hear them.
Wentworth Search Down to Finalists
The search at D3 Wentworth is down to the final group. The names that I have heard are all small college assistants from high academic schools with either local connections or engineering school ties. It sounds like the group includes: Jack Barrett – assistant coach Johns Hopkins (played at Wentworth), Mike Mailhot – assistant coach Chicago (played at nearby Emmanuel College), Tyler Papadinis – assistant coach Bowdoin (former associate head coach at MIT), Riley Naclerio – assistant coach WPI, and Jason Chornyei – assistant coach Stevens Tech. This one should be wrapped up shortly.
Osborn Joins Southwest (NM) Staff
Will Osborn has been hired as an assistant at NAIA University of the Southwest (NM). Osborn has also been an assistant at Mayville State (ND), Oklahoma Panhandle State, and Tabor College (KS). He played collegiately at both NJCAA Central Arizona and D2 D2 Georgian Court.
D3 Opening Alert
Another NY D3 has opened. Stay tuned…
For a full list of coaching changes across NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO levels, check out the 2025 Coaching Changes Tracker presented by D1.relocation [HERE].
