Some morning dirt….
It sounds like Iowa State assistant director of operations Matt Abdelmassih will be elevated to an assistant coaching spot. Abdelmassih worked with head coach Fred Hoiberg with the Minnesota Timberwolves before following him to ISU.
Louisville assistant Tim Fuller is headed to Missouri to join Frank Haith’s staff. He worked for Haith in an administrative role at Miami. Also, Louisville assistant Mark Lieberman is moving to the DBO position apparently replacing Ralph Willard. Not sure if Willard will assume an assistant spot, or if he’s out. Pitino is also looking to replace Steve Masiello who recently took the Manhattan job. Rumor has it the his son Richard will return from Florida to assume one of the spots.
Multiple sources have told me that Tulsa associate head coach David Cason will take King Rice’s spot on the staff at Vanderbilt. Cason has been at Tulsa for the past six seasons. He’s also worked at Notre Dame, UNC, TCU, and Eastern Illinois.
Speaking of new Monmouth head coach King Rice, I’ve heard that High Point assistant Brian Reese and Fordham video coordinator Derrick Phelps are going to accept spots on his staff. They are all UNC alums.
Pat Knight is beginning to assemble his staff at Lamar. He is going to retain current DBO Kermit Holmes. Holmes has been at Lamar for the past six seasons. I’ve also heard that he is going to hire Kenton Paulino and Cliff Carroll as assistants. Paulino played at Texas and has been in an administrative role on Rick Barnes’ staff for the past three seasons. Carroll was a student assistant for Bob Knight at Texas Tech and coached at Collin College (TX) last season.
Former Arkansas staffer Isaac Brown looks like he will land at Louisiana Tech as an assistant. Also, new head coach Michael White looks like he will retain assistant Dusty May. May worked for Bob Knight as a student at Indiana (I guess it’s Bob Knight day in dirt-land).
Mike Jackson has resigned as an assistant at Purdue. He was suspended in February for an alcohol related incident. No word on his replacement yet.
