USF men’s basketball head coach Orlando Antigua has hired former FIU head coach and Ole Miss assistant Sergio Rouco as an assistant coach on his staff.

“Sergio has over 25 years of coaching experience at the Division I level,” Antigua said. “He has great recruiting connections not just in the state of Florida, but around the world, which will greatly benefit our program.”

Rouco spent the last three seasons at Ole Miss and helped the Rebels to a revival in 2012-13 with a school record-tying 27 wins, the program’s second SEC Tournament title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002.

Rouco has returned to the Sunshine State, where he spent six years as a high school head coach in his hometown of Miami at Loyola (1986-87) and Miami Norland (1991-95) before moving to the college ranks. He was the head coach at FIU from 2006-09 and in his first season guided the Panthers to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships, the longest postseason run for the program since 1998.

Rouco began his college coaching career as an assistant at FIU from 1987-91 and again from 2000-03. He also was an assistant at UTEP for the 2003-04 season and helped the Miners reach the NCAA Tournament.

Rouco is the third and final assistant coach hired by Antigua which includes his younger brother, Oliver Antigua, and NBA veteran Rod Strickland.

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