By Aidan Joly
There’s no doubt that the Fordham job is one of the toughest in the country. The school is in a tough league that it has struggled in since it joined and they often have to pick up what’s left once players in a talent-rich New York City are picked up by more successful programs.
After Jeff Neubauer was dismissed earlier this week, the next coach at Fordham will have to be an elite-level recruiter with ties to the area. Here’s nine candidates that could help fill that hole, in no particular order.
Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter’s head coach
Holloway has been in the area his entire life. He grew up in Queens and went to high school in New Jersey and has been in the metro area his entire life with assistant coach stops at Iona and Seton Hall and has now been the head coach at Saint Peter’s since 2018 and led the Peacocks to a 14-6 league record last season. Saint Peter’s struggles with brand name and facilities, which makes it even more impressive. The Fordham job could be a sensible step up.
Jared Grasso, Bryant head coach
Grasso, in his third season with Bryant after a long stint as the associate head coach at Iona, has the Bulldogs at the top of the Northeast Conference, a significant turnaround for a program that won just three games as recently as the 2017-18 season. He’s proven to be one of the top low-major recruiters in the northeast. He also had a 23-game stint as interim head coach at Fordham in the 2009-10 season.
Darren Savino, UCLA assistant
Savino is out in California now, but he is a northeast guy. He followed Mick Cronin out there after serving as an assistant to him at Cincinnati, but before that had runs of being an assistant coach at Rutgers, Quinnipiac, St. John’s and Seton Hall, among others. A native of New Jersey, he has a reputation as a great recruiter as well as being very good at player development.
Bruiser Flint, Kentucky assistant
Flint has deep northeast ties, having spent 15 years as head coach of Drexel in Philadelphia from 2001-2016. His 245 wins are the most for any head coach in program history. After that, he held an assistant job at Indiana from 2017-2020 and is in his first season with Kentucky. Still relatively young, 55, this job may be his chance to get back into head coaching.
Kyle Neptune, Villanova assistant
Neptune has a reputation as a future head coach and one of the top young assistants in college basketball. He has been an assistant under Jay Wright at Villanova since 2013, having won a pair of national championships on his staff. He’s the longest-tenured assistant at Villanova currently. He also had a stint as an assistant coach at Niagara and is a native of Brooklyn.
Steve Lavin, former St. John’s and UCLA head coach
This would be the big-name sexy hire. Lavin has been out of coaching for six seasons now after a successful tenure at St. John’s from 2010-2015, getting them to the postseason four out of five years. Before that, he was the head coach of UCLA from 1996-2003, getting the Bruins to the second weekend five times. Now, he is an analyst with Fox Sports. He’s 56 so he’s still young enough to get back into coaching. Maybe this is the job for that.
Tim O’Toole, Pittsburgh assistant
O’Toole is already expected to be a candidate according to reports. He was mentioned last spring as well before Fordham made the decision to retain Neubauer. His coaching career began at Fordham in 1988 as an assistant and he’s been an assistant at the high major level with the likes of Duke and Syracuse. He’s been with the Panthers since 2018. He has head coaching experience, serving as the head coach at Fairfield from 1998-2006. In addition, he is from just outside New York City, so he’s an impressive candidate.
Matt Langel, Colgate head coach
Langel has been the head coach at Colgate since 2011 and has turned the program from a bottom feeder in the Patriot League to a perennial contender and what would have been a third straight postseason appearance in 2020. Before that, he was an assistant at Penn and Temple. He was another name mentioned last spring. Langel would make a lot of sense for this job, but the drawback is that Langel could probably get a better job if he waits a year or two. We shall see.
Brandin Knight, Rutgers assistant
Knight is probably an under-the-radar name, but he’s a strong candidate. He has been an assistant coach at Rutgers since 2016 and has been a big part of Rutgers’ turnaround in the past two years. Before that, he was an assistant at his alma mater, Pittsburgh, for eight years. He’s from the area and has been coaching in the area for five years now. He’s still young too, just 39. He’s never had a head coaching job.
Whoever they hire, it’s important for this hire to be a good one. Fordham has constantly been in the basement of the Atlantic 10 and they need a big change. Head coach is a start.
AJ Hoops 