All Things Richard Pitino Assistants UPDATED 4/4: Kimani Young reportedly on staff

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jaymil said:
Mike Ellis is on Sid's show right now and he said Pitino does want to hire Young but that he has to "go through a process" at the U and the hire is not official yet. Ellis also echoed Teague's comment that they are very excited about who Pitino will look to add to the staff and that Pitino has conducted multiple interviews this weekend.
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OK, so Young is coming. Good. We'll find out about the rest of the staff later. I expect it to be an awesome high energy staff that recruits love! I don't even have any favorites anymore (like John Blair). Just going to sit back and enjoy the ride!
 

corcoran1 said:
When the HC goes, the staff goes. If VT has a problem with that, he is in the wrong business. A staff can't just be recruiters, someone has to develop players.
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Agree, and its not like he was that great of a recruiter anyway. Good, not great.
 

jaymil said:
Mike Ellis is on Sid's show right now and he said Pitino does want to hire Young but that he has to "go through a process" at the U and the hire is not official yet. Ellis also echoed Teague's comment that they are very excited about who Pitino will look to add to the staff and that Pitino has conducted multiple interviews this weekend.
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Good news. I was worried he would bring the entire FIU staff. IMO, the staff may need some upgrades if they expect to have a chance to compete in the B1G. I am hoping Richard can use his contacts with Rick P. and Donovan to identify and steal a top notch recruiter.

Interesting dynamic with a young head coach bringing in staff who may have more experience than he does. I am betting Richard knows performance over the next several years is critical in defining his hire (needs to show he was ready).
Expect him to do his best to hire a staff that ensures he succeeds - not one that he is comfortable with.
 

Gopher in Texas said:
Good news. I was worried he would bring the entire FIU staff. IMO, the staff may need some upgrades if they expect to have a chance to compete in the B1G. I am hoping Richard can use his contacts with Rick P. and Donovan to identify and steal a top notch recruiter.

Interesting dynamic with a young head coach bringing in staff who may have more experience than he does. I am betting Richard knows performance over the next several years is critical in defining his hire (needs to show he was ready).
Expect him to do his best to hire a staff that ensures he succeeds - not one that he is comfortable with.
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I wouldn't be surprise if part of his staff stayed at FIU too. Lieberman might be a candidate for FIU?

We have more resources to hire assistants than Pitino had at FIU, I hope he takes advantage of them.
 

I'm hopeful Lil' Ricky's approach to hiring assistants is similar to his father's:

Rick Pitino doesn't hire assistant coaches, he hire guys who are going to be future head coaches.
 





From his Auburn bio:
Miller is considered one of the top recruiters in the country where he has contacts throughout the United States as well as foreign countries including Australia, where he also played competitively.
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Plus hes a former NSIC guy, can't complain about that!
 




Miller was still tweeting Auburn stuff from the game last night, and is the associate head coach there.
Do we know anything or is this just a pipe dream?
 

Miller would bring a mid-west style and contacts and the foreign player connection to the staff. It this is true, then look for the pipeline from OUS to open up. The global vision is really exciting for the program!....Lets hope the rumors are true. Take a look at one of Millers recruits, 7-Foot Benas Griciunas from Lithuania, as an example. This guy is a 7 footer who can also shoot the 3-ball with the best of them. If Pitino can open up the international pipeline, this program may turn quicker than most believe possible.......
 

leftyslefty said:
Miller was still tweeting Auburn stuff from the game last night, and is the associate head coach there.
Do we know anything or is this just a pipe dream?
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Marcus Fuller and Ryan James had tweeted that he is a candidate. That's all I know.
 



I like that he's known as a recruiter, is young (and seemingly hungry), and has the NBA connections through his bro. The international recruiting thing could be really nice too. St Mary's has basically built an entire program based on Australian players so there is definitely some nice talent down under.
 

millions2spare said:
Miller would bring a mid-west style and contacts and the foreign player connection to the staff. It this is true, then look for the pipeline from OUS to open up. The global vision is really exciting for the program!....Lets hope the rumors are true. Take a look at one of Millers recruits, 7-Foot Benas Griciunas from Lithuania, as an example. This guy is a 7 footer who can also shoot the 3-ball with the best of them. If Pitino can open up the international pipeline, this program may turn quicker than most believe possible.......
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Auburn must not have had enough time to coach up all that talent they have brought in. 3-16 in the SEC and 252 RPI.
 

Big ticket........Miller joined the staff in the fall of 2012 with not much time to have a major impact. He will be a good fit for the U of M if he decides to accept the offer........
 

millions2spare said:
Big ticket........Miller joined the staff in the fall of 2012 with not much time to have a major impact. He will be a good fit for the U of M if he decides to accept the offer........
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That's great news. I wasn't aware that we offered him. Was he offered the associate head coach by Pitino?
 

It's always enjoyable listening to people chime in on potential assistant coaches, most of which are almost completely unknown entities.
 

Lieberman admitting interest from Pitino.

Amelia Rayno ‏@AmeliaRayno 1m
Mark Lieberman (current asst at FIU, former Louisville asst) said that Richard Pitino has reached out to him about a job w/ the #Gophers.
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Amelia Rayno ‏@AmeliaRayno 25s
Lieberman was also Rakeem Buckle's HS coach at Monsignor Pace, so if both came to MN, they would be at 4 diff schools together. #Gophers
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Amelia Rayno ‏@AmeliaRayno 16s
Lieberman said that he doesn't know he's going to do yet, and is talking it over w/ his wife. #Gophers
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Update...

Amelia Rayno ‏@AmeliaRayno 2m
Miscommunication with Lieberman. Pitino reached out, but not ab a job w/ Minnesota. #Gophers
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Amelia Rayno ‏@AmeliaRayno 1m
Lieberman said he probably wouldn't be interested in such a job right now bc of personal reasons. He has his wife recently lost a child.
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Word continued to circulate within coaches' networks in Atlanta at the


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NCAA Final Four that Richard Pitino will make Kimani Young, who was an assistant for Pitino at Florida International, a member of his new Gophers staff.
It still is unclear whom else Pitino might hire, but he's been doing especially detailed homework, people in the know say. Among those already interviewed is believed to be ex-Gophers guard Ben Johnson, who is the top assistant at Nebraska. Also expected to get top consideration is top Auburn assistant Ryan Miller, older brother of ex-Timberwolves sharpshooter Mike Miller of the Miami Heat.

By the way, the Gophers haven't had a full-time Minnesota native recruiting assistant since Johnson and Dave Thorson, now the DeLaSalle boys coach, in 19 years.

Young, by the way, is said to be well-connected with AAU basketball in New York City and New Jersey. Another FIU assistant Pitino could bring to Minnesota is Mark Lieberman, a former assistant to Pitino's father, Rick, at Louisville, the new national champion.

Insiders say Lieberman, who was an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville before joining Richard Pitino at FIU, already has an offer to come to Minnesota. Lieberman recruited 6-8, 215-pound Rakeem Buckles, a four-star, top-30 prospect out of high school in Miami, to Louisville. Buckles had to sit out this season after transferring from Louisville and is expected to be a fifth-year senior next season.

Gophers 6-foot-4 freshman basketball player Wally Ellenson, making his debut for the track team Saturday in the Hamline Invitational, won the high jump at 2.17 meters, a personal record.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...twins-exec-works-spring-training-timberwolves
 

Jon said:
Word continued to circulate within coaches' networks in Atlanta at the


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NCAA Final Four that Richard Pitino will make Kimani Young, who was an assistant for Pitino at Florida International, a member of his new Gophers staff.
It still is unclear whom else Pitino might hire, but he's been doing especially detailed homework, people in the know say. Among those already interviewed is believed to be ex-Gophers guard Ben Johnson, who is the top assistant at Nebraska. Also expected to get top consideration is top Auburn assistant Ryan Miller, older brother of ex-Timberwolves sharpshooter Mike Miller of the Miami Heat.

By the way, the Gophers haven't had a full-time Minnesota native recruiting assistant since Johnson and Dave Thorson, now the DeLaSalle boys coach, in 19 years.

Young, by the way, is said to be well-connected with AAU basketball in New York City and New Jersey. Another FIU assistant Pitino could bring to Minnesota is Mark Lieberman, a former assistant to Pitino's father, Rick, at Louisville, the new national champion.

Insiders say Lieberman, who was an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville before joining Richard Pitino at FIU, already has an offer to come to Minnesota. Lieberman recruited 6-8, 215-pound Rakeem Buckles, a four-star, top-30 prospect out of high school in Miami, to Louisville. Buckles had to sit out this season after transferring from Louisville and is expected to be a fifth-year senior next season.

Gophers 6-foot-4 freshman basketball player Wally Ellenson, making his debut for the track team Saturday in the Hamline Invitational, won the high jump at 2.17 meters, a personal record.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...twins-exec-works-spring-training-timberwolves
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As reported by Amelia, Lieberman does not have an offer to come to Minnesota and would be unlikely to accept one anyway.
 

Daniel Quam ‏@MNDukeFan 5h
@CoachKimani Hey Kimani, will you follow Rich Pitino to Minnesota? We could use your NY connections for recruiting. Best of luck either way.

Kimani Young ‏@CoachKimani 27m
@MNDukeFan Already here my man!
 

Mike Balado is another one of our assistants, first reported by Monter. Here is his profile on FIU's website. It's interesting that he is fluent in Spanish, which could help recruiting Miami (where he's from) as well as overseas.

Mike Balado is in his first season as an assistant coach at FIU after spending three seasons at High Point where he assisted in all areas of the Panther basketball program with a heavy concentration on recruiting. He helped bring in several recruits as part of HPU's first two recruiting classes. A native of Miami, Balado speaks fluent Spanish, which is a strength on the international scene.“Mike Balado has great experience in the college game as well as the junior college ranks,” FIU Head Coach Richard Pitino said. “He knows the state of Florida and will be able to recruit from top to bottom. He is a tireless worker and will bring a lot to our staff.”Balado joined the HPU staff after spending the 2008-09 season on the University of Miami basketball staff where he helped the Hurricanes compile a 19-13 record and a trip to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 2008-09. The team featured All-ACC first team selection Jack McClinton, who ranked second in the conference in scoring.Prior to coaching at Miami, Balado spent three years on the Florida Atlantic University basketball staff. In Balado’s first season at FAU in 2005-06, the team posted its second-consecutive winning season, the first time since the early 1990s that the Owls had consecutive winning seasons. In 2006-07, the Owls won 10 Sun Belt Conference games, the third-most for a first-year Sun Belt member. The team also set a program scoring record, averaging 74.9 points per game. The Owls went 15-18 and 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play in 2007-08. During his tenure at FAU, Balado was a key recruiter.Balado spent two seasons at Miami Dade College before taking the post at FAU. While at Miami Dade, he helped lead the Sharks to back-to-back winning seasons, including a program-best 27-5 mark en route to the conference championship in 2004-05. He recruited four of MDC’s 2004-05 All-Conference selections, including the conference Player of the Year.Prior to his time at MDC, Balado spent a year at Nova Southeastern University. He began his collegiate coaching career at Augusta (Ga.) State University where he served as a graduate assistant from 1998-2000.Balado played collegiate basketball at St. Thomas University in Miami, where he was a two-year starter and captain. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1998 and added a master’s of education in exercise and sport science from Augusta State in 2000.He is married to the former Alicia Nigro and the couple had twins, Aiden and Addy, in June 2009.
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MadtownGopher said:
Mike Balado is another one of our assistants, first reported by Monter. Here is his profile on FIU's website. It's interesting that he is fluent in Spanish, which could help recruiting Miami (where he's from) as well as overseas.
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Monter?
 



PiPress Gophers Now ‏@GophersNow 1m
There's a good chance Richard Pitino might not hire any guys with local ties on his staff. Would you be OK with that? #Gophers
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I'd be fine with it.
 

I don't care if any are linked to "local ties" or not. Hire the best, Coach, and everything else will take care of itself.

Besides, the most local of the locals are the High School Coaches, and that is who I want Coach to connect with.
 

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