Tobin Anderson is the new head coach at Iona one day after Rick Pitino resigned from the Gaels to take the same role with St. John’s.
Anderson will be replaced by assistant coach Jack Castleberry, multiple outlets reported later Tuesday.
Pitino was introduced by the Red Storm on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Iona finished with a 27-8 record this season after dropping an 87-63 decision to UConn on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Anderson, 51, guided Fairleigh Dickinson to a blowout victory over Texas Southern in the First Four before helping the newly minted 16th-seeded club to a 63-58 victory over top-seeded Purdue on Friday. The win marked just the second upset by a No. 16 seed of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
FDU was bounced from the tournament in a 78-70 decision by ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic on Sunday. The Knights finished with a 21-16 record during Anderson’s first season as their head coach. They were 4-22 in the previous season.
“We are very excited to introduce Tobin Anderson as Iona University’s men’s basketball head coach,” Gaels athletic director Matthew Glovaski said. “We have long known him to be a fantastic coach and an even better person. Now, with his team’s impressive run in the NCAA Tournament, everyone paying attention to March Madness also knows this. We’re delighted that he will be at the helm of our men’s basketball program.”
Anderson spent nine seasons at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas before accepting the job at Fairleigh Dickinson.
“I appreciate this tremendous opportunity from Matt Glovaski and (Iona president Seamus) Carey to be the next leader of one of the most storied basketball programs on the East Coast,” Anderson said. “Iona University represents everything my family and I were looking for in a school, a basketball program and a campus atmosphere. Our goal is to build upon the tremendous tradition of Iona basketball and elevate the program to greater heights.”
Fairleigh Dickinson provided a tribute to Anderson on both social media and the school’s website. The school also said “a successor will be announced imminently.”
And that reportedly is the 40-year-old Castleberry, who came to FDU with Anderson last spring. Castleberry spent six years at The Citadel prior to joining FDU. Castleberry began his coaching career at Tennessee Martin in 2007 after playing at VMI.
–Field Level Media