IUP men’s basketball head coach Joe Lombardi has announced the hiring of Joey Cantens as the program’s top assistant coach. Cantens joins the Crimson Hawks after spending last season at the University of Southern California.

“I am very thankful for the opportunity to join the coaching staff at IUP,” said Cantens. “The Crimson Hawks have had great success under the leadership of Coach Lombardi. The family atmosphere that he has created amongst the players, staff and community of Indiana is special, and I believe is a big reason for the success of IUP Basketball.

“I am excited to be a part of the IUP basketball family and hope that my impact can help to continue building on the success of the program.”

Cantens spent the 2014-15 season as USC’s Director of Scouting and Video Operations. He rejoined Trojans head coach Andy Enfield after having worked with him at Florida Gulf Coast University during their unprecedented run to the Sweet 16 in 2013. At USC, he oversaw all video operations as well as assisting in the preparation of opponent scouting reports.

Prior to joining USC’s staff, Cantens served as an assistant coach with the Santo Domingo Leones, a professional team in the Dominican Republic. In Santo Domingo, he assisted long-time Puerto Rican national team coach Flor Melendez, helping them advance to the league semifinals. His responsibilities included preparation of opponent scouting reports, on court instruction and individual skill development.

In 2014, Cantens also served on the staff of the Dominican Republic national team, which competed at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and earned the No. 20 world ranking under former Kentucky assistant and current South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua. Cantens has also been a part of the Dominican Republic national team staff during the summers of 2011-13, under Kentucky coach John Calipari.

Cantens worked with Enfield as a graduate assistant at Florida State, when Enfield was an assistant coach for the Seminoles’ Leonard Hamilton. He joined Enfield at FGCU in 2011 as the director of basketball operations. Cantens spent three seasons at FGCU, which included the Eagles’ Sweet 16 run in 2013, and their first-ever Atlantic Sun regular season title in 2014 under current FGCU head coach Joe Dooley.

Cantens joins Lombardi, who is 204-77 (.726) in his nine seasons at the helm of the IUP program, and second assistant Jimmy Langhurst, who enters his second year with the Crimson Hawks in 2015-16.