Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell is rounding out his staff.
The new coach is in discussions with former Pittsburgh assistant Brandin Knight as his final assistant coach, but nothing is finalized, a souce with direct knowledge told SNY.tv Monday morning.
“It’s not done yet,” the source said.
Pikiell had already hired UConn’s Karl Hobbs as his associate head coach and Stony Brook’s Jay Young as an assistant.
“I’m close, though, I’m getting close,” Pikiell said Friday at a coaches’ clinic at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic of finalizing his staff.
Knight, who starred at Seton Hall Prep, is well known throughout New Jersey high school and AAU circles. He was in the mix to remain at Pitt after Jamie Dixon left for TCU, but opted to leave once Kevin Stallings was hired.
“Brandin knows all the coaches in New Jersey and New York. Coach Stallings doesn’t know that area that well, as far as recruiting, where Brandin does,” the father of Wade Baldwin IV , who played at St. Joe’s-Metuchen and recently declared for the NBA Draft out of Vanderbilt, told TribLive.com
“I probably talked to over 50-60 schools during my son’s recruitment. He was the best recruiter. What he did put Pitt in the top five.”
Meantime, Pikiell will reportedly retain Greg “Shoes” Vetrone in a special advisor role. Vetrone recruited point guard Corey Sanders, wing Jonathan Laurent and incoming big man Issa Thiam of the Canarias Basketball Academy, who has yet to sign a Letter of Intent. NN