Heading into his second season running the Salem University Tigers men’s basketball team, Head Coach Adam Williams brings in a new coaching staff with hopes of reinvigorating a program with proud traditions.
This summer, Williams brought in Assistant Coach Robert Ford from Our Lady of the Lake University. Also joining the staff are first-year graduate assistants O’Neil Lubin and Jonathan Finkel, as well as student assistant Anthony Chomat.
In Ford’s two seasons as an assistant with OLLU, the Saints went 40-9, reaching the Elite 8 in the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history.
At OLLU, Ford was responsible for offseason workouts, on-court coaching, monitoring academic progress and developing game plans and scouting reports. He was instrumental in the school’s player development process, helping Joe Jackson, Temple Junior College’s Defensive Player of the Year, transform into a two-way force and the Saints’ first First-Team All-American.
Ford has six seasons of coaching experience. In addition to his time at OLLU, Ford was an assistant at Paris Junior College for a season, where he helped five student-athletes find Division I scholarships and placed all seven sophomores at teams with four-year universities.
He also spent time at Neosho County Community Collee, developing the fifth best offense in the National Junior College Athletic Association, Texas A&M University-Commerce, and two years as an assistant at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
Ford played collegiately for two years at Eastern Michigan University from 2005-2007 before transferring to the University of South Alabama for his final two seasons, where he helped the team received a bid to the NCAA Tournament as its starting shooting guard.
“Coach Ford is really meticulous and detailed. He has a lot of connections for recruiting and he’s a really good basketball coach,” Coach Williams said. “A lot of times you hear a guy is a relentless recruiter, or great at this one thing. Rob’s very well-rounded. He’s almost like a second head coach for our program.”
Last year, Lubin was named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Class 9A and Metro East Coach of the Year for leading his alma mater Oak Ridge High School (Fla.) to a 24-5 record, finishing as the regional runner-up in Florida.
Lubin’s coaching career began as a student assistant under Head Coach Sean Hanrahan at Warner University, where he played and received his Bachelor’s in Psychology. His duties there included player development, scouting reports, recruiting and film breakdowns.
“He had a great year, he’s coached three or four top 100 players in the country,” Williams said. “So, he’s been around a high level of talent and understands how those guys work and what elite players do every single day. So, it’s great for our guys to hear what those players do. It’s always great to emulate the best.”
Coach Finkel joins the Salem University Tigers men’s basketball team as a first-year graduate assistant out of Temple University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Sport and Recreation Management.
At Temple University, Finkel worked as the basketball team’s student manager, interacting with recruits and their families and handling their social media accounts. He also worked as a football recruiting worker, assisting in daily recruiting operations, interacting with recruits and their families, as well as assisting with the Matt Rhule Summer Football Camps.
Finkel also interned at Philadephia University, assisting with recruiting, maintaining statistics and gameday operations. Prior to joining Salem, he worked with Hoop Group as an elite camp runner, handling camp logistics and assisting coaches at the camp.
“He really serves as our director of operations,” Williams said. “Every little meticulous travel item, he’s on top of that. He does a great job of office organization.”
Chomat last played on the 2015-2016 Salem team, appearing in 13 games and shooting 41.7 percent from the 3-point line.
The men’s season kicks off on Nov. 11 against Kentucky State University at 2 p.m. at the T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.
http://www.siutigerpride.com/news/2017/10/27/mens-basketball-welcomes-new-coaches.aspx
