Rutgers coach Mike Rice has completed his staff by hiring Fordham associate head coach Van Macon, sources with knowledge said.

Macon, who worked under Tom Pecora at both Fordham and Hofstra, joins associate head coach David Cox and assistant Jimmy Martelli on the Rutgers staff. Jim Carr also remains as the recruiting coordinator.

Macon has also coached at Lafayette and Marist.

He played college ball at Nassau Community College, where he was recruited by Pecora, who was an assistant coach at Nassau at the time. He was voted the Region XV and Region XV Tournament Most Valuable Player and led Nassau to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament in 1990. (more…)

Fran Fraschilla and Mike Rice are the two leading candidates to replace Fred Hill at Rutgers, according to a source with knowledge of the decision-making progress.

“Fran and Mike are 100 percent in the mix. They’re in the mix. They [Rutgers] are speaking to them,” the source said.

Former Philadelphia 76ers coach Eddie Jordan withdrew his name from consideration. Temple coach Fran Dunphy and former Boston College coach Al Skinner have also been in the mix, but do not appear to be leading candidates at this time. (more…)

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. –The three gentlemen in this picture are all working with new coaches.

Is that why they’re smiling?

From left to right, Kevin Lorincz of Rutgers, Mark Fratto of St. John’s and Matt Sweeney of Seton Hall are three of the best sports information guys in the business.

This photo was snapped Wednesday night at the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott.

The metropolitan area has witnessed a massive game of coaching musical chairs in recent weeks and virtually every new Division 1 coach in New York and New Jersey was on hand for this annual event put together by Chuck Stogel. (more…)

Paterson (N.J.) Catholic High School will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday and the school could be on the brink of closing in June, multiple sources said Tuesday night.

“It’s a tough situation. It’s sad. If they are closing, it’s a sad situation,” said former PC and current Clifton High School basketball coach Tommie Patterson. “If Paterson Public Schools takes that building over, we need a technical school in this city.”

Messages left at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson were not immediately returned Tuesday night. (more…)

St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin has officially put former Golden State Warriors assistant Rico Hines on staff.

Hines becomes the second person to join Lavin’s staff, following former Drexel assistant Tony Chiles.

“Rico is a talented, natural-born teacher and coach with a relentless work ethic. He is one of the true rising stars in the coaching profession,” said Lavin. “His talents in on-court player skill development and his reach as a north-to-south, coast-to-coast recruiter are among the definite benefits he brings to our staff at St. John’s.” (more…)

More than two weeks after he took over as the 19th coach in St. John’s storied history, Steve Lavin appears close to finalizing his staff.

Rico Hines will become the second assistant to join Lavin’s staff and could be formally announced as early as Monday, multiple sources with knowledge said.

Hines was an assistant under Don Nelson with the Golden State Warriors and also played for Lavin at UCLA.

Mike Dunlap, the former Oregon assistant, interviewed Friday for the Colorado vacancy and is also in the mix at Oregon. Should he fail to land either, he could join the St. John’s staff. (more…)

NEW YORK — Ronald Roberts always dreamed of playing college basketball at Madison Square Garden.

When he signed with St. John’s last November under then-coach Norm Roberts, he thought his dreams would soon come true.

Yet after Norm Roberts was fired last month, new coach Steve Lavin decided that Ronald would not be a good fit for his system. Ronald was released on Monday from his letter of intent.

Read the full story at SNY.

And watch the video interview above with Paterson Catholic stars Fuquan Edwin and Jayon James, both of whom had to deal with coaching changes this offseason.

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NEW YORK -- They share the same first name, the same high school and, soon, they will share the same college announcement date.

Terrence Jones, a 6-8 forward pictured at left, and Terrence Ross, a 6-5 guard, plan to announce together at Portland (Ore.) Jefferson High School on either April 23 or April 30.

“We’ve almost been through everything together, worked out, tournaments and he’s back home so we just wanted to give our school something to cherish that day, just choose the same day,” Jones said Thursday at the Jordan Brand Classic practice at Sports Club/LA in Manhattan. (more…)

When Jio Fontan wanted to leave Fordham last December, he was given a conditional release and prohibited from landing at a number of schools.

It was perfectly understandable for Fontan to be prevented from transferring within the Atlantic 10 Conference, but he was also restricted from joining nearly half a dozen Big East schools, including Rutgers.

Fontan, a 6-foot point guard who played for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony, once sat courtside at Rutgers  but never had any serious intention of coming to the school. He ultimately landed at Southern Cal.

Four months later, Mike Rosario, Fontan’s close friend and former St. Anthony teammate, is going through a similar experience as Rutgers attempts to buy out head coach Fred Hill.

Only this time, Rutgers is the school telling a star player where he can and cannot go. (more…)

St. John’s coach Steve Lavin is still filling out his staff and will meet Friday with former Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato, a source with direct knowledge said.

Adubato spent three years at Seton Hall under Bobby Gonzalez, who was fired last month. Before that he was an assistant coach for two years under Mike Fratello with the Memphis Grizzlies. He also spent seven years in scouting and player development with Memphis.

A New Jersey native and the son of former NBA and WNBA head coach Richie Adubato, Adubato is respected and connected in the Garden State. He recruited Kyrie Irving to Seton Hall and kept the Pirates in the mix with the McDonald’s All-American until the end. He remains close with several uncommitted 2010 recruits, including Jonathan Graham, a 6-8 senior power forward from Baltimore (Md.) Calvert Hall, and the former UConn commit Cleveland Melvin, a 6-8 big man from Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep. (more…)