First-year NJIT men’s basketball Head Coach Grant Billmeier filled out his initial coaching staff this week with the promotion of Mike Hamlin to Assistant Coach and hiring of Vincent Tamburro as Director of Basketball Operations.
Hamlin served as the Director of Basketball Operations last season and was retained by Billmeier after he was hired in early April. A Philadelphia native, Hamlin spent nearly 15 years at Division II Bloomsburg, first as a student assistant coach and then as an assistant coach.
“Mike has done a tremendous job for our program and is very deserving of this role,” explained Billmeier. “He has the respect of our players and is very well liked on our campus. I’ve been very fortunate to have Mike on my staff and he has been very helpful to me and the rest of the staff with our transition to NJIT.”
During his long tenure at Bloomsburg, Hamlin had various roles including operations and game planning, NCAA compliance, academic advisement, video coordination, recruiting, and fundraising. Hamlin coached several players who earned high individual accolades, including and NABC First Team All-American, eight First Team All-PSAC members, a PSAC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and several 1,000 point scorers.
In 2011-12, Hamlin led the Huskies to a 19-win season and a the program’s first playoff berth in more than a decade. Head Coach John Sarnow and Hamlin were honored as the PSAC Coaching Staff of the Year for their success.
“I am incredibly grateful to Coach Billmeier and the NJIT administration for entrusting me with the opportunity to continue my career with the Highlanders family,” said Hamlin. “I’m excited to be a part of the inaugural staff under Coach Billmeier and I am looking forward to the upcoming season. Go Highlanders!”
In addition to working at Bloomsburg, Hamlin has also spent many years working with The Hoop Group in its Elite Camp, Skills Camp, Top 100 Camp and many other high-level camps and clinics.
Tamburro comes to NJIT after spending the last four years as a student manager at Seton Hall, with the first three of those years working alongside Billmeier, who was an Associate Head Coach at the time. “Vinnie has worked with me for a number of years at Seton Hall and has an excellent understanding for how to run the daily logistics,” added Billmeier. “He is incredibly hard working and focused on making sure we are prepared in all the different areas needed for our staff and players to be successful.”
Tamburro spent the past four seasons as a Student Manager for the Seton Hall men’s basketball team, working with Kevin Willard’s staff for three seasons and Shaheen Holloway’s staff in 2022-23. For the past two seasons, Tamburro served as the Head Student Manager.
During his time with the Pirates, Seton Hall had a winning season each year and qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Pirates also won a BIG EAST Regular Season Championship in 2020 before the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“”I am extremely excited to get started in the college basketball coaching world and be here at NJIT,” noted Tamburro. “I am so grateful that Coach Billmeier has given me the opportunity to start my career. I can’t wait to get started here at NJIT and help build the program to get us to where we need to be.”
Tamburro, a Dumont, NJ, native, also spent a summer working in the equipment room at Seton Hall and another summer on staff for Shaheen Holloway’s Basketball Camp.
Hamlin and Tamburro join assistant coaches RaShawn Stores, Pete Lappas, and Thomas Messinger on Billmeier’s staff.
