SNY.tv previously reported that Mihalich interviewed at Hofstra last month.

The news was first reported by Newsday.

Hofstra first targeted Iona coach Tim Cluess, a Hofstra grad and Long Island native, but he opted to re-up with the Gaels instead.

Mihalich, who was named the 2013 MAAC Coach of the Year and the 2013 Skip Prosser Man of the Year, takes over a Hofstra program that went 7-25 last season and had six players arrested for off-the-court incidents.

Mihalich won 265 games in the MAAC and took Niagara to two NCAA Tournaments and three NITs.

He takes over for Mo Cassara, who was fired March 22.

In November, four Hofstra players were arrested and charged with second-degree burglary in connection with a string of dorm-room burglaries at the Long Island school.

Last month, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was arrested for marijuana possession. Also, Taran Buie was arrested a few nights ago for a traffic violation, according to Newsday.

Three of Hofstra’s 2013 commits under Cassara attend St. Thomas More (Conn.) —  6-foot point guard Amadi Udenyi, 6-2 combo guard Marquise Moore of Queens and 6-7 small forward Gabe Levin.

STM head coach Jere Quinn previously told SNY.tv that the players “will think it over and go from there but they like the school.”

“They’re not rushing into anything right now,” Quinn said.

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ATLANTA — Rick Pitino

“I did not recommend Richard, Billy Donovan did,” Pitino said here at the Final Four. “But I put in a call and I said I would not second that recommendation if I didn’t think he could not only succeed but do great things. So you don’t want your son in that situation, you want him to take his time.

“He is more than ready. I drove him harder than I drove Billy so he’s more than ready. What he did this year at Florida International, I never thought anybody could do. He took walk-ons, eight new players, he turned around the bad academic situation and won 18 games and was a bucket away from going to the NCAA in his first year.

“So he is ready to coach. I feel bad that I drove him that hard, now I’m very happy I did.”

Richard Pitino was hired Wednesday to replace Tubby Smith, who was fired last week after six seasons at Minnesota which included three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Kimani Young, a Pitino assistant at FIU, will follow the coach to Minnesota.

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The Albany Times-Union first reported the news.

“Congrats to Jimmy Patsos! Will do great job at Siena. Also a win for the Albany media guys lol,” Tweeted Binghamton coach Tommy Dempsey.

Robert Morris coach Andy Toole was also in the mix.

Patsos has been at Loyola for nine years, going 47-21 in the last two.

In 2012, Loyola reached the NCAA Tournament and lost to Ohio State.

Patsos came to Loyola from Maryland where as an assistant under Gary Williams for 13 seasons. He helped guide the Terrapins to 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, consecutive trips to the Final Four (2001 and 2002) and the 2002 NCAA National Championship.

Photo: Baltimore Sun

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Dunk City is coming to USC.

Just two days after UCLA hired Steve Alford as its new coach, crosstown rival USC answered by hiring Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield.

Enfield reportedly agreed to a six-year deal worth approximately $1.5 million annually. He was making $152,000 at Florida Gulf Coast.

The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of SI.com.

“Andy has been successful in every area of his life,” USC AD Pat Haden said. “He has been a success on the court as a record-setting player, in the classroom as an Academic All-American, in the corporate world with successful businesses, in his personal life as a husband and father, as an NBA assistant and shooting coach, as a collegiate assistant at Florida State and most recently as a head coach with his Sweet Sixteen team at Florida Gulf Coast.”

Said Enfield: “My family and I are thrilled to join the Trojan Family and be part of the unparalleled athletic tradition at USC. In meeting with Pat Haden, I was very impressed with his vision for the men’s basketball program. I am looking forward to bringing an exciting, up-tempo style of play to USC and building the men’s basketball brand into one that the fans and basketball community will enjoy and respect.”

Enfield’s Florida Gulf Coast team captivated the nation last week when it became known as “Dunk City” and became the first-ever No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16, knocking off Georgetown and San Diego State before falling to Florida in the Sweet 16.

Enfield, a former NBA and Florida State assistant who is married to the former supermodel Amanda Marcum, did not pick up his cell phone Monday night when called.

He replaces former USC coach Kevin O’Neill, who was fired after a 7-10 start. Assistant Bob Cantu coached the team on an interim basis.

“I’m not going to comment or speculate on anything,” Enfield told The News-Press last week. “I understand speculation is part of the business.

“Every time you have success in the business, it’s natural to be (discussed as a coaching candidate)…My personal life and my family’s personal life has been under scrutiny the last week, week-and-a-half.”

Enfield just concluded the second year of his five-year contract that paid him $152,500 this season, The News-Press reported. Multiple news outlets in Southwest Florida have reported that FGCU was looking to greatly increase Enfield’s salary for the third year of his deal.

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The university and fans had hoped that Gillispie, 52, could orchestrate a turnaround like the ones he put together at Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M. Instead, he led the Red Raiders to an 8-23 record last season.

Gillispie did not immediately return a call from the AP for comment.

The move came less than a month after the university announced it was looking into allegations that Gillispie mistreated players last fall.

In January, the university reprimanded Gillispie and the assistant coach Brooks Jennings after a review found the team had exceeded practice-time limits.

Meanwhile, Gillispie’s health was apparently growing worse.

Twice in a 10-day span recently, 911 calls were made from Gillispie’s home. The first, on Aug. 31, led to a six-day stay in a Lubbock hospital.

On Sept. 11, Gillispie left for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he said he received treatment for kidney problems and abnormal headaches.

Gillispie’s first two years as a college head coach were at UTEP in the Western Athletic Conference. He took the Miners from a 6-24 record in 2002-3 to a 24-8 mark the following season.

The conference named him coach of the year in 2004, the same year he was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award — the first of three times he made the final cut.

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Dempsey, 38, is 119-105 (.531) at Rider since becoming coach before the 2005 postseason.

Dempsey declined comment but is expected to speak later this week.

Binghamton went 2-29 last season, 1-15 in America East. They lost 27 consecutive games and were ranked ranked 344 out of 344 Division I teams in the RPI.

Former Bearcats coach Mark Macon was fired April 30.

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“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to coach at SMU,” said Brown, 71, who will join the Big East Conference with SMU in 2013. “I’ve built so many relationships in the basketball world and my success has been due to the coaches I’ve played for and the players I’ve coached. I want to thank them all. I always thought of myself as a college coach and this gives me a wonderful chance to get back where I started.”

“Larry Brown is one of the top coaches in the history of the game,” said AD Steve Orsini. “He is a legend and has made every team he has ever coached a winner. As we transition into the nation’s top basketball conference, the Big East, his leadership will be invaluable.”

Brown is the only coach ever to win an NBA title (2004, Detroit Pistons) and an NCAA championship (1988, Kansas).

“I say congratulations,” Knicks interim head coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday.

“He’s a great coach,” added Woodson, who worked under Brown in Philadelphia and Detroit and also followed him in the list of Knicks coaches. “He’s won at every level. He knows what it takes to win in college.”

Brown is the sixth-winningest coach in NBA history with 1,098 career victories, and led his teams to 18 playoff appearances, eight 50-win seasons, seven division titles, three conference championships and one NBA Championship.

Brown was most recently head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats and guided the Bobcats to the franchise’s first-ever playoff appearance in 2010. Charlotte was the eighth different team he led to the postseason – an NBA record.

SMU has two local commitments in the Class of 2012, including 7-foot center Blaise Mbargorba of the Peddie School and 6-3 Xaverian shooting guard Brian Bernardi, who has yet to hear from Brown.

“We haven’t heard anything,” Xaverian assistant Chris Alesi told SNY.tv. “Obviously, the plan is hoping they reach out pretty soon.”

Asked if Bernardi would likely remain with his commitment, Alesi said, “I hope so. The kid hasn’t varied much. There’s a lot of variables, though.”

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“I say congratulations,” Woodson said Wednesday when informed that Brown had reportedly accepted the SMU job.

“He’s a great coach,” added Woodson, who worked under Brown in Philadelphia and Detroit and also followed him in the list of Knicks coaches. “He’s won at every level. He knows what it takes to win in college.”

SMU would be Brown’s 13th coaching stop. If Brown, 71, stays more than one year at SMU, he will be around when the school joins the Big East.

He would then join an impressive roster of league coaches that will lose Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jamie Dixon of Pitt, but would retain Jim Calhoun of UConn, Rick Pitino of Louisville, John Thompson III of Georgetown, Jay Wright of Villanova and others.

“I’d like to coach or be involved in basketball in some capacity,” Brown told NBA TV on Saturday. “I feel like I have something to offer. I certainly would be interested in SMU.”

Brown is the only coach to win an NCAA title (Kansas in 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit Pistons in 2004). He hasn’t coached since leaving the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010-11.

ESPN.com reported that Brown offered spots to Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich, Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard and Kentucky assistant Rod Strickland.

Alex Kline reported that both Brian Bernardi and Blaise Mbargorba will remain committed to SMU after the coaching change.

“I’d like to coach or be involved in basketball in some capacity,” Brown told NBA TV on Saturday. “I feel like I have something to offer. I certainly would be interested in SMU.”

Benford interviewed for the job — created by the firing of Matt Doherty — for the first time during the Final four in New Orleans, sources said.

With SMU set to join the Big East in 2013, the possibility of the legendary Brown joining the league is interesting to say the least.

The Big East will lose Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh after next season, but Brown could potentially join Jim Calhoun of UConn, Rick Pitino of Louisville, Mike Brey of Notre Dame, Buzz Williams of Marquette, Steve Lavin of St. John’s and John Thompson III of Georgetown among the league’s big-name coaches.

Brown, 71, is the only coach to win an NCAA title (Kansas in 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit Pistons in 2004). He hasn’t coached since leaving the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010-11.

Kansas coach Bill Self said at the Final Four that Brown was “unemployed” and appeared anxious to get back in the mix.

“He’s unemployed,” Self said. “He’s got to be around ball. He spends time at Villanova, Maryland, Kentucky.

“He’s been out to our place three or four weeks. Comes to practice, watches. Doesn’t come to all practices, but he’ll sit around in a film session with us, that kind of stuff.

“It’s just kind of cool to have him around. I think the players like seeing him, too. I think the players, that respect factor is always there when Coach Brown is around, as well.”

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Ferry will be introduced at a press conference Thursday.

“I am truly thrilled to be named the next head men’s basketball coach at LIU Brooklyn,” said Perri, who spent a year as head coach at Division III Rhode Island College. “I am honored that both Mr. [John] Suarez [the AD] and Provost Gale Stevens Haynes have given me this tremendous opportunity to build upon what we, as a team, have already accomplished.

“Over the past seven years, I have grown to love the LIU community. I cannot put into words just how strongly I feel about this university and how proud I am to lead this team of talented student-athletes. The tradition of LIU Brooklyn basketball speaks for itself and I will work tirelessly to ensure that our program is of the highest caliber on the court, in the classroom and in the community.”

Perri, 36, has spent seven seasons on the LIU staff, including the last five as associate head coach.

“We are very fortunate to have someone on staff with such tremendous experience and success throughout his career,” Suarez said. “I have complete faith that Jack will continue to bring the Blackbirds to new heights.”

A native of Elmont, N.Y., Ferry has coached at LIU for 10 years, compiling a 150-149 record.

He led the team into the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons after the Blackbirds won Northeast Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2011 and `12.

This year LIU was a No. 16 seed and was bounced by No. 1 Michigan State in the first round in Columbus, Ohio.

The news was first reported by CBSSports.com.