NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Iona College men's basketball head coach
Rick Pitino announced the appointment of three assistant coaches.
Tom Abatemarco,
Casey Stanley and
Ricky Johns will share the sidelines with the Gaels' Hall of Fame head coach and look to help guide the Maroon & Gold in its quest for another MAAC Championship crown.
"The most important part for me was finding diversity in age and experience," Pitino said. "All three coaches also have ties to Iona College and are very experienced recruiters, which I also sought out in putting together this staff."
"Coach Abatemarco was one of Jim Valvano's first assistant coaches here in New Rochelle and was very much responsible for getting one of the program's all-time players,
Jeff Ruland, to commit. Coach Stanley is an Iona graduate and has been around the program since he was six, with his father serving as a broadcaster for nearly 30 years. Coach Johns was part of
Tim Cluess' staff and I wanted someone familiar with our returning players to help with a smooth transition for the future of Iona basketball," Pitino added.
TOM ABATEMARCO
Tom Abatemarco is an entrenched member of the basketball coaching community with over 40 years of Division I and professional coaching experience. Most recently he spent three seasons at Florida Gulf Coast where he was part of two NCAA tournament appearances.
"Back in the day, Tom was one of the top recruiters in the nation due to his relentless attitude. It is one of the reasons why Ruland chose Iona," said Pitino. "He has worked 40+ years on the sidelines, including as a head coach at three different schools. Tom brings wisdom, a track-record and a hunger in recruiting. It is refreshing to see someone with his experience remain such a diehard recruiter. He has the same energy today as he did when he was a young man working for Jimmy V."
Abatemarco's long tenured career included seven seasons as a Division I head coach at Lamar (1986-88), Drake (1988-90) and Sacramento State (1997-00). He was an assistant coach at numerous stops including Dowling (1973-74), New York Tech (1974-75), Iona (1975-77), Davidson (1977-78), St. John's (1978-79), Maryland (1979-81), Virginia Tech (1981-82), North Carolina State (1982-86), Colorado (1991-94), Rutgers (1994-97), Utah (2003-04), Colorado (2010-13), Loyola Marymount (2013-14) and Tulsa (2014-15) prior to his stint at FGCU.
In between his college stints, Abatemarco spent seven years as an assistant coach for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs. He was also on staff for the Sacramento King's NBA Development League program, the Reno Big Horns for one season.
Among the many highlights of his remarkable career was six years as an assistant coach for Iona College Hall of Famer Jim Valvano with both the Gaels and at North Carolina State. He was part of one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history when the Wolfpack won the NCAA Championship over Houston in 1983.
In addition to Ruland, Abatemarco recruited NBA legends Spud Webb, Nate McMillan, Vinny Del Negro and Chucky Brown at NC State; Buck Williams and Adrian Branch at Maryland; Kevin Williams at St. John's; Dell Curry (father of Steph Curry) at Virginia Tech and Adrian Caldwell at Lamar.
The New York native is a graduate of Dowling College on Long Island.
CASEY STANLEY
Casey Stanley returns to his alma mater after 10 seasons with six different programs and 12 total years of NCAA Division I coaching experience. Most recently, Stanley served as an assistant coach with Arkansas State University in the Sun Belt Conference.
"Over the last decade, Casey has worked for me, my son and other talented coaches, and I can only imagine the dream come true for him to return to his alma mater as a full-time assistant coach," said Pitino. "He is a tireless worker and knows Iona College very well. He has shown an ability to recruit high-level talent at his two previous stops, signing freshmen of the year in both the Colonial and Sun Belt Conferences."
Growing up around Iona basketball from a young age, Casey attended games with his father, former long-time radio play-by-play announcer, Gary Stanley. He was a four-year team manager for the Maroon & Gold as an undergraduate, serving under both
Jeff Ruland and
Kevin Willard. Upon graduation, he became Willard's Director of Operations, and followed the former Iona head coach to Seton Hall in 2010-11.
From there, Stanley moved on to work at Louisville as a video coordinator for Pitino for one season before spending two years with Richard Pitino at Florida International and Minnesota. Stanley's next stop was UNC Wilmington under current NC State head coach Kevin Keatts where he helped lead the Seahawks to two CAA championships and two NCAA appearances in three seasons. Stanley comes to Iona after working three seasons for Mike Balado from 2017-2020.
RICKY JOHNS
Ricky Johns will remain an assistant coach for the 2020-21 campaign in what will be his fourth at Iona College. Johns was an assistant coach for
Tim Cluess the last two years and director of operations in his first year in 2017-18.
"Ricky returns to Iona and comes highly recommended by everyone on campus, as well as people that I trust in the business. He carries himself with great integrity and dignity and does things the right way. His coaching and playing experience along with familiarity with the New York metropolitan area will be an asset to the program."
Johns helped lead the Gaels to two MAAC championships and NCAA tournament appearances in his first two seasons in Maroon & Gold. He spent five-years at Monroe College across town in New Rochelle working for both the men's and women's programs with the Mustangs.
Johns was no stranger to Monroe, though, having played for the men's team from 2003-2005 and went down as one of Monroe's greatest basketball players. He is the second leading scorer in Mustangs history with 1,202 points. Johns earned Region XV Player of the Year honors as a freshman and sophomore, while averaging 20 points per game, which earned him NJCAA Second Team All-American honors.
Johns has playing experience at every level of basketball: high school, college, and professional. In 2002, he was a standout guard at Wings Academy High School in the Bronx and led them to a PSAL Class B title. After graduating from Monroe, Johns went on to the University of Utah, then a member of the Mountain West Conference. In his senior year at Utah, Johns was named a co-captain and averaged 7.5 points per game, while shooting 40.3% from behind the three-point line in the 30 games he played.
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