Pitt will be looking for a new assistant basketball coach.
Barry "Slice" Rohrssen to Kentucky is "done," source tells @SNYtv
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 14, 2014
Rumors have been circling for days, and it appears now it is a done deal that Pitt assistant Barry "Slice" Rohrssen will be taking an assistant coaching job at the University of Kentucky. Rohrssen's second stint for serving under Jamie Dixon lasted just one year, though his first tenure at Pitt lasted from 1999-2006, with the last three seasons holding the title of "Assistant Head Coach." Rohrssen had a brief, yet unsuccessful run as the Head Coach at Manhattan University, and a quick one year run as an assistant in the NBDL prior to re-joining Pitt's staff.
Rohrssen's claim to fame is his strong New York City connections and being a great recruiter of that area. He certainly has a familiarity with Pitt, but will take on a new challenge joining John Calipari's staff at the basketball crazed University of Kentucky.
Obviously losing Rohrssen hurts Pitt, because it did appear Pitt was going back to heavily recruiting the talent rich NYC area once again. Rohrssen is credited with locking down a commitment from 2016 five-star guard, Mustapha Heron. Once the dust settles, it will be interesting to see where Pitt still stands with Heron, and if they have a chance to keep his commitment.
Lately, it appears another assistant coach, Brandin Knight has taken on a big role in all aspects - notably recruiting. Knight should be able to keep Pitt in the door with the majority of the prospects they were talking to already, as he himself has very good New York connections. Bill Barton is the other assistant on the staff, but now Jamie Dixon must go out and find a replacement for Slice, and names are already floating.
Former Pitt assistant, Tom Herrion would be available after his head coaching run at Marshall is over. Herrion was the lead assistant for Pitt during the run to the Elite 8. David Cox is also out there, who was just let go by Rutgers. Cox was a former Director of Basketball Operations at Pitt. Rasheen Davis is being mentioned also. Davis is currently an assistant at Manhattan, and also spent some time at Pitt as a Video Coordinator, and served as an assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville. Perhaps the dream candidate would be Emmanuel "Book" Richardson, who is currently serving as Sean Miller's ace recruiter at Arizona. Richardson is a graduate of Pitt-Johnstown, and is a New York City native. Obviously, a name from off the radar could emerge, but Dixon already has plenty of connections that are viable replacement candidates for Rohrssen.
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