University of South Alabama men’s basketball head coach Richie Riley announced his coaching staff for the 2018-19 campaign.
Adam Howard, Amorrow Morgan and Nima Omidvar will be joining as assistant coaches, and Tyler Parker will be the director of operations.
“I’m excited to add these guys to our program,” Riley said. “We have a diverse group of guys that we hired and I did that on purpose. I want people around me with different recruiting and coaching backgrounds. We have a unique situation here where we have guys that have coached at all levels, and that’s what my career path has been. I like guys that have had to fight and scrap to get to this level because I think there’s a certain appreciation and work ethic that goes with that. The guys that we hired have all had to earn the opportunity to be at a special place like South Alabama.”
Howard comes to Mobile after spending two seasons on the Troy men’s basketball staff. In 2016-17, Howard played a role in getting the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament, winning the most games by a Troy team since 2003-04 and recording the largest win improvement in school history.
Prior to that, he was at Tennessee, where he signed Kevin Punter, who scored the most points by a two-year player in UT history, and worked with Josh Richardson, a first-team all-SEC performer and the 40th pick in the 2015 NBA draft.
A four-year letterwinner at Western Kentucky, the Ashland, Ky. native joined the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Morehead State in 2009, before moving on to Southern Miss in 2012-13.
“My relationship with Adam goes way back – he’s a Kentucky guy like me,” Riley said. “He obviously has a familiarity with the league, which I like, and went to the NCAA Tournament with Troy. Adam is a phenomenal relationship guy, not only with our current players but the ones he recruits too. He’s a great on-the-floor coach and has experience coaching offense and defense, as well as skill development. There’s something to be said for guys that win at every stop, and he’s won at every job he’s ever been. That speaks volumes about the kind of coach he is.”
Morgan was a member of Riley’s staff at Nicholls State in 2017-18, where the Colonels shared the Southland Conference title and recorded their most wins in a season (21) since 1995.
In his two seasons at Henderson State, the Reddies increased their team GPA in Morgan’s final two semesters, and posted a seven-win improvement in his second year.
Following an all-conference career at Idaho State, Morgan played professionally in Europe for three years before joining the staffs at Illinois-Springfield and Our Lady of the Lake.
“Amorrow comes with me after spending a year at Nicholls State, and he was extremely valuable in our success there,” Riley commented. “His relationship with our players there was fantastic – they loved him. That’s important to me. I want our players to feel like they’re family to everyone on our staff, and Amorrow certainly has shown me that over the last year. He’s young guy with great recruiting ties in the South. He’s a tireless recruiter and a very good on-the-floor coach.”
Omidvar spent the previous four seasons at Maryland as the director of operations, and has coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate levels.
The Terrapins reached the NCAA Tournament in three of his four seasons, including a Sweet 16 run in 2015-16. In all, Omidvar reached the postseason six consecutive seasons, spanning stints at Maryland, North Carolina State and Bowie State.
At N.C. State, Omidvar served as the video coordinator from 2011-14 after spending one year as an assistant coach at Bowie State and one year as a graduate assistant at Charlotte.
“Nima is as energetic as it gets,” Riley stated. “He’s well connected across the country, especially in the Northeast and DMV (Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area, which is an area I’ve had a lot of success in as a recruiter. He’s also a guy with a diverse background – he’s been in the ACC, the Big Ten and Conference USA, and started his career in the AAU circuit. He’s also been a director of operations, which is another valuable piece because he knows how to do a lot of things. His ability to recruit, not only in the Northeast but across the country, is going to be huge for our success. If you talk to him for five minutes, you can’t help but love him. His personality is contagious, and I want those kinds of guys around our players.”
Parker was also a member of Riley’s staff in 2017-18 where he was the director of operations.
Previously, he was the associate head coach at Shorter for two seasons, and spent a year at Crowley’s Ridge and two at Faulkner.
Parker was a member of the Faulkner men’s basketball team from 2008-12 before moving into a coaching role.
“Over the last year, Tyler has been a guy that has made himself into somebody that I need with me,” Riley said. “He knows what I’m thinking before I say it most of the time because we spend so much time together. The sacrifice he made at Nicholls to leave a Division II assistant job to be the director of operations at Nicholls State shows how much he wanted to be a part of what I’m trying to do as a head coach. His organization and communication skills with people around our program is really top notch. He does a nice job of developing relationships, and he understands my vision for the program and he’s able to relay that to other people and our players. He makes a huge impact on our program with what he does off the court.”
https://www.usajaguars.com/news/2018/4/27/riley-reveals-mens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx
