It’s been a whirlwind few days for Tobin Anderson after he turned simply the second coach to guide a 16-seed to a win over a 1-seed within the NCAA Match.
In his first 12 months as head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson College, Anderson led the Knights to a document of 21-16 and two wins within the NCAA Match.
Fairleigh Dickinson guard Grant Singleton celebrates after a basket in opposition to Purdue within the males’s NCAA Match in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Picture/Michael Conroy)
Now, Anderson will grow to be the subsequent coach at Iona following Rick Pitino’s departure for the job at St. John’s.
KENTUCKY UNAWARE 16-SEED FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON BEAT PURDUE DESPITE GAME ON JUMBOTRON: ‘NONE OF US KNEW THAT’
“I respect this large alternative from [Iona Director of Athletics] Matt Glovaski and [President] Dr. Carey to be the subsequent chief of one of the crucial storied basketball packages on the East Coast,” Anderson mentioned. “Iona College represents all the pieces my household and I had been on the lookout for in a college, a basketball program and a campus environment. Our objective is to construct upon the large custom of Iona basketball and elevate this system to higher heights.”
At FDU, Anderson led the Knights to a victory over Texas Southern within the “First 4” recreation earlier than defeating Purdue on Thursday.
Fairleigh Dickinson’s Cinderella run got here to an finish on Sunday because the 16-seed misplaced to 9-seed Florida Atlantic.
Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson reacts after a basket in opposition to Purdue within the males’s NCAA Match in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Picture/Michael Conroy)
Iona has been to the NCAA Match in two of the final 4 years with Pitino as head coach.
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“We’re very excited to introduce Tobin Anderson as Iona College’s males’s basketball head coach,” mentioned Glovaski. “We’ve got lengthy identified him to be a improbable coach and an excellent higher particular person. Now, together with his staff’s spectacular run within the NCAA match, everybody taking note of March Insanity additionally is aware of this. We’re delighted that he can be on the helm of our males’s basketball program.”
Earlier than taking the job at FDU, Anderson spent 9 seasons at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas, going 209-62.
“Tobin Anderson is a extensively revered coach who has excelled at each stage of the sport and has confirmed that he can lead a mid-major program to NCAA match victory,” Carey mentioned. “Iona is constructing a program of nationwide prominence and Tobin has demonstrated that he’s the chief to take us there.”
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Head coach Tobin Anderson applauds the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights through the NCAA Males’s Basketball Match at Nationwide Area on March 17, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. (Dylan Buell/Getty Photos)
Previous to FDU’s win over Purdue, 16-seeds had been 1-150 within the first spherical of the NCAA Match, with UMBC’s win over Virginia in 2018 being the lone win.
“That entire recreation has modified everyone on our staff – workers, college students, everyone who [goes] to Fairleigh Dickinson College,” FDU ahead Sean Moore mentioned, based on ESPN. “Every little thing is totally different now.”
Anderson can be launched as the subsequent coach of Iona on Wednesday.