ECU Head Men’s Basketball Coach Joe Dooley announced his coaching staff Tuesday with Raphael Chillious joining the program as associate head coach and Steve Roccaforte as an assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator. Tyler Lewis has been named the program’s video coordinator and Derek DeMasi as assistant director of basketball operations.
In addition, assistant coach Ken Potosnak and Kyle Robinson have been retained and will each begin their ninth season with the program.
“We’ve got a lot of experience and many different levels,” Dooley said. “We’ve got guys that have coached and recruited at the highest level. They have a very good feel for what ECU is and how they can help us get this program to where we want to get it.
Chillious is regarded as a renowned national recruiter and has helped assemble four highly-ranked recruiting classes over the past six years. He spent the 2017-18 campaign as the associate head coach at Connecticut and assisted in putting together the nation’s 22nd ranked recruiting class. Chillious spent seven of the previous eight seasons as a member of the coaching staff at Washington, where he began his coaching career in 2009-10 and remained for three seasons before becoming an assistant coach at Villanova in 2012-13. After one season at Villanova, he returned to Washington for four years.
Chillious is credited with constructing Washington’s No. 6 ranked 2015 recruiting class and helping UW land Markelle Fultz, the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He is also lauded for assembling highly touted recruiting classes in Seattle in 2010 and ’11. He attended Lafayette College (Pa.) and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1996.
“Raphael is a tireless recruiter and has gotten a great reputation as such,” Dooley stated. “I think just as importantly he’s got a very good feel for the game. He’s gotten a lot of opportunities, coaching Washington, Villanova and UConn and has worked with some excellent coaches. He’s got great people skills which enhances his interaction with our student-athletes and recruits.
Roccaforte joins the coaching staff at ECU following four years as an assistant at Virginia Tech, the last of which he served as associate head coach.
Known nationally as a relentless recruiter and enthusiastic floor coach, Roccaforte helped assemble top 20 recruiting classes at five institutions, including the nation’s top-rated recruiting class at Memphis in 2001. He also aided in the construction of highly-touted classes at Lamar, Tulane, USF and Virginia Tech. He spent three seasons at USF before joining the coaching staff in Blacksburg.
Prior to USF, Roccaforte was the head coach at his alma mater, Lamar University, for five seasons after serving as an assistant coach at Lamar (2003-06), Memphis (2000-03), Wyoming (1998-00), Tulane (1994-98) and Centenary (1989-94) to begin his career. He served on the staff of eight teams that participated in postseason play and went to a five NCAA Tournaments, two with Virginia Tech and one each with USF, Tulane, and Memphis.
“Coach Roccaforte has been at some places that aren’t necessarily easy jobs,” Dooley explained. “He’s dug up guys through relationships with a lot of different contacts. He’s recruited nationally and has a good rapport with the players. He’s also worked with some very good coaches and I know he’ll help us on the floor as well.”
Lewis joins the staff after spending the 2017-18 campaign as director of recruiting at Furman University. The Statesville, N.C., native began his collegiate playing career at NC State, where he helped the Wolfpack to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014 before transferring to Butler. Lewis graduated from Butler in 2017 after he aided in their run to the Sweet Sixteen.
DeMasi was part of Coach Dooley’s staff at FGCU during the 2017-18 season and assisted with coordinating all video operations, developing the team playbook and organizing detailed scouting reports as the Eagles won the Atlantic Sun regular season title and posted a 23-12 overall record. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2011.
