In what should come as a surprise to no one, applications for the Monmouth men’s basketball job are pouring in.
A source close to the athletic department said the school had already received 55 applications to serve as
Dave Calloway’s successor.
According to the source, among those in the mix are Christian Brothers Academy coach
Geoff Billet (pictured); Davidson assistant
Jimmy Fox;
Dennis Wolff, the Director of Basketball Operations at Virginia Tech; Temple assistant
Matt Langel; NJIT coach
Jim Engles; Rutgers assistant
Van Macon; and Notre Dame assistant
Martin Ingelsby.
St. Patrick coach
Kevin Boyle, former Rutgers coach
Fred Hill and Wagner assistant
Bobby Hurley have also been linked to the job. Several sources indicated Hurley would not take the job because he doesn’t want to coach against his brother, Wagner coach
Dan Hurley.
Sources close to former St. John’s coach
Norm Roberts said he is not a candidate.
Billet is seen by many as a strong candidate. As an assistant at Monmouth under Calloway, he helped lead the Hawks to two Northeast Conference titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Billet has the endorsement of Jersey Shore Warriors AAU coach
Tony Sagona.
“Billet is a great fit,” Sagona said. “He was here as an assistant. Geoff was a Big East assistant at both Rutgers and at Seton Hall. He played at Rutgers. He’s a local guy. He’s got contacts, college coaches, all the high school coaches.”
Sagona also said both of Monmouth’s 2011 commitments,
Andrew Nicholas and
Austin Tillotson of Eastern York (Pa.), were honoring their commitments to Monmouth. Both play for the Warriors.
Another factor to keep in mind that is that
Dennis Coleman is on the board of trustees. Coleman represents over 30 head coaches in basketball and football, including
Jamie Dixon of Pitt,
Jeff Capel of Oklahoma,
Phil Martelli of St. Joseph’s, Fran Dunphy of
Temple and
Johnny Dawkins of Stanford.
Coleman did not immediately respond to a phone message Tuesday.
The source said interviews will begin early next week and that Monmouth wants to get a new coach in quickly.
“They want to get it over within 2-3 weeks,” the source said. “It’s one of the best jobs in the [Northeast] Conference. It’s better than a lot of Patriot and America East jobs.”
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