Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Now that Andy Toole has been tabbed as Mike Rice’s replacement at Robert Morris and Book Richardson has opted to stay put at Arizona, Rice’s staff at Rutgers should come into a little bit clearer focus.
Rice had expected Toole to get the Robert Morris job after he took over at Rutgers, and that news came down on Monday.
“I got a voicemail from Andy at about 1 o’clock saying he got the job,” one prominent Atlantic 10 coach said, referring to Toole.
Rice offered Richardson the job of associate head coach, but Book opted to stay put under Sean Miller.
His goal is to coach in the Final Four and he has now turned down offers from both St. John’s and Rutgers to come back home and coach in the Big East…so he must feel that Arizona is closer to making a deep run in the NCAA tournament than either Big East program.
Former Robert Morris assistant Jimmy Martelli has come to Rutgers with Rice.
Sources say Rice has also had conversations with Pittsburgh assistant Brandin Knight and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle.
Rice and Tom Herrion (Marshall) have proven that Pitt assistants can go on to land plum head jobs, so Knight may opt to stay put and hope the same happens to him. Former Pitt assistant Orlando Antigua is also an assistant under John Calipari at Kentucky.
As for Boyle, he has made no secret of his desire to coach at the college level. He told me in January he would be interested in a head coaching job in the state.
“You hear rumors all the time about this job opening, that job opening,” Boyle said then. “And obviously if a job in New Jersey opens, of course I’d be very interested in seeing if I could be a candidate for one of those. If they open.
“But obviously you’ve got to wait till something happens and you wish all the guys that are in those places success. And eventually if something opens at one of those schools, then I would love to be considered at that time.”
When I asked Rice on Thursday about possibly adding a high-profile Jersey high school coach to his staff, he smiled and said, “If he’ll help us become successful at Rutgers University, I’ll look at it.”
If Boyle were to jump to Rutgers, he would be the second high-profile New Jersey high school coach to move to the college level.
Boyle’s friend and longtime rival at St. Benedict’s, Dan Hurley, is now the head coach at Wagner.
FORDHAM SIGNS FOURFordham announced the signing of four players Monday, including former Hofstra commits Branden Frazier and Marvin Dominique.
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**Mike Rice Era begins at Rutgers
**Rice offers Book Richardson
**Rice video/presser transcript
**Rice unearths Jersey recruiting gems
**Mike Rice would be perfect fit at Rutgers(Boyle photo courtesy Star-Ledger)Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Now that Andy Toole has been tabbed as Mike Rice’s replacement at Robert Morris and Book Richardson has opted to stay put at Arizona, Rice’s staff at Rutgers should come into a little bit clearer focus.
Rice had expected Toole to get the Robert Morris job after he took over at Rutgers, and that news came down on Monday.
“I got a voicemail from Andy at about 1 o’clock saying he got the job,” one prominent Atlantic 10 coach said, referring to Toole.
Rice offered Richardson the job of associate head coach, but Book opted to stay put under Sean Miller.
His goal is to coach in the Final Four and he has now turned down offers from both St. John’s and Rutgers to come back home and coach in the Big East…so he must feel that Arizona is closer to making a deep run in the NCAA tournament than either Big East program.
Former Robert Morris assistant Jimmy Martelli has come to Rutgers with Rice.
Sources say Rice has also had conversations with Pittsburgh assistant Brandin Knight and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle.
Rice and Tom Herrion (Marshall) have proven that Pitt assistants can go on to land plum head jobs, so Knight may opt to stay put and hope the same happens to him. Former Pitt assistant Orlando Antigua is also an assistant under John Calipari at Kentucky.
As for Boyle, he has made no secret of his desire to coach at the college level. He told me in January he would be interested in a head coaching job in the state.
“You hear rumors all the time about this job opening, that job opening,” Boyle said then. “And obviously if a job in New Jersey opens, of course I’d be very interested in seeing if I could be a candidate for one of those. If they open.
“But obviously you’ve got to wait till something happens and you wish all the guys that are in those places success. And eventually if something opens at one of those schools, then I would love to be considered at that time.”
When I asked Rice on Thursday about possibly adding a high-profile Jersey high school coach to his staff, he smiled and said, “If he’ll help us become successful at Rutgers University, I’ll look at it.”
If Boyle were to jump to Rutgers, he would be the second high-profile New Jersey high school coach to move to the college level.
Boyle’s friend and longtime rival at St. Benedict’s, Dan Hurley, is now the head coach at Wagner.
FORDHAM SIGNS FOUR
Fordham announced the signing of four players Monday, including former Hofstra commits Branden Frazier and Marvin Dominique.
RELATED CONTENT
**Mike Rice Era begins at Rutgers
**Rice offers Book Richardson
**Rice video/presser transcript
**Rice unearths Jersey recruiting gems
**Mike Rice would be perfect fit at Rutgers
(Boyle photo courtesy Star-Ledger)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
