Steve Sauers, the Director of Basketball Operations at Seton Hall, is leaving the program to become an assistant coach at Iona under Kevin Willard.
“It’s an incredible opportunity professionally,” Sauers, 41, said Monday by phone. “These past two years have been great working at Seton Hall for Bobby Gonzalez. I’ll certainly miss the school but this was an incredible professional opportunity.”
Sauers, a longtime assistant at Marist College, had a reputation as a strong recruiter and he viewed this as a chance to get more involved with recruiting and coaching as a full-time assistant. He previously had opportunities to work at NJIT and Brown.
He joins former Seton Hall player Shaheen Holloway and New Jersey native Dan McHale on Willard’s staff. Sauers, Holloway and McHale all have ties to Gonzalez, with Holloway working at Seton Hall and McHale at Manhattan. Casey Stanley is the Director of Basketball Ops at Iona.
“To add someone with the coaching experience that Stephen has will be a great asset to our young program,” Willard said. “Having coached and recruited in the Northeast for over 14 years, he will bring tremendous value to our program in all areas.”
Speaking of Iona, the Gaels are headed to Toronto for Labor Day, where they will play three exhibitions against Canadian schools.
Iona is bringing in numerous area recruits: St. Patrick guard Jermel Jenkins; Don Bosco guard Kyle Smyth; Hackensack forward Keon Williams; St. Benedict’s guard Scott Machado; Cardozo guard Trinity Fields and 6-7 Derek Wolfley of Attica (NY) High. Iona will also add Seton Hall transfer Kashif Pratt and 6-11 Louisville transfer Jonathan Huffman this year.
