Tom Pecora was fired on Wednesday after spending five years at Fordham, the school announced.
Potential replacements for Pecora will likely include Albany coach Will Brown, a Long Island native who has taken the Great Danes to five NCAA Tournaments; Iona coach Tim Cluess, a Queens, N.Y., native who has guided the Gaels to two NCAAs and two NITs; Manhattan coach Steve Masiello, who has taken the Jaspers to two straight NCAAs and lost Tuesday night’s play-in game to Hampton; and Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell, who has taken that program to three NITs and two CBIs in the last six years. Columbia’s Kyle Smith could also be a possibility.
“The decision was based on the fact that the University’s men’s basketball program has regrettably not achieved the desired results or made the sustained progress hoped for under Mr. Pecora’s leadership, as measured by the won/loss record over five years, which was 44 – 106 (29.3 percent), and the recruited student athlete retention rate over the past four years, which was 50 percent,” the school announced.
“The University extends its appreciation and gratitude to Coach Pecora for all that he has done over the course of his tenure to position our men’s basketball program for greater success in the future. We wish him and his family well in all future endeavors.”
The school will launch a national search and will use a search firm in the process.
One key question is what will happen to Fordham’s young guards Jon Severe and Eric Paschall, the A-10 Rookie of the Year.
Paschall’s father told Pat O’Keefe of News12 that no decision had been made on Eric’s future, but that “he’ll probably end up staying.”
He added that his family hadn’t yet been approached by other schools but told O’Keefe, “there are vultures out there.”
