Men's Basketball | 7/6/2016 12:41:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University head men's basketball coach
Andrew Toole announced today that
Kyle Griffin and
Mike Iuzzolino have joined the staff as assistant coaches.
"We're extremely excited to add Kyle and Mike to our staff, as both have proven to be excellent coaches with excellent playing careers," Toole said. "We feel they both will add new energy and excitement to our program. We're constantly searching for ways to improve our program, and we believe Kyle and Mike will help us continue to push our program forward."
Griffin, a native of Allentown, Pa., joins RMU after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach under Dr. Brett Reed at Lehigh. During his three seasons at Lehigh, the Mountain Hawks posted an overall record of 47-47 (.500), including a 30-24 (.556) mark in the Patriot League. He helped guide Lehigh to the 2016 Patriot League Tournament championship game and was instrumental in the development of Tim Kempton and Kahron Ross, who were named 2015 Patriot League Player of the Year and 2015 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Prior to Lehigh, Griffin served as Director of Team Events for the
Hoop Group, managing high school showcases and AAU events. He assisted in the recruitment and organization of the largest event offered by the Hoop Group in the
Pittsburgh Jam Fest. Also while with the Hoop Group, Griffin was the Director of Operations and Director of the Philly Hoop Group Classic, a Division I tournament that included Pittsburgh, Penn, La Salle, Rider, Robert Morris and James Madison.
Griffin began his collegiate playing career at La Salle before transferring to Siena. In his first season at Siena, the Saints finished 27-7 overall, including 17-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Siena appeared in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, falling to Purdue, 72-64. He appeared in 32 career games with the Saints, including two starts. In 2011 Griffin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing and management from Siena.
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Iuzzolino, a native of Altoona, Pa., joins the Robert Morris staff after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach under head coach Jim Baron at Canisius. Iuzzolino served as the director of basketball operations with the Golden Griffins in 2012-13 before holding the same position at New Mexico in 2013-14.
Iuzzolino began his collegiate playing career at Penn State before transferring to Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. In two seasons with the Red Flash from 1989 to 1991, Iuzzolino scored 1,346 points. He was named the 1991 Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year after leading SFU to 24 wins, a school record, and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Iuzzolino was the only player in the country in 1990-91 to average more than 20 points per game (24.1), shoot better than 50 percent (.542) from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc (.528) and 80 percent (.887) at the free-throw line.
Upon completion of his career with the Red Flash, Iuzzolino was
drafted in the second round of the 1991 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft by the Dallas Mavericks as the 35th overall selection. He played two seasons in Dallas, producing per game averages of 9.0 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 122 career contests. During the 1991-92 campaign, Iuzzolino ranked fourth in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.434).
Iuzzolino played two seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) with the Fort Wayne Fury (1993-94) and the Rapid City Thrillers (1994-95) before concluding his professional career with stints overseas in Italy, Greece and Spain.
Iuzzolino began his coaching career as an assistant with the Duquesne women's program from 2005-07 before spending a year in the same capacity with George Mason. He joined the men's coaching staff at Saint Vincent College in 2008 and spent four years with the Bearcats as Associate Head Coach before joining the staff at Canisius.
A two-time Academic All-America First Team selection (1990, 1991) by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Iuzzolino was named the 1991 CoSIDA Academic All-America Player of the Year. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and secondary education from Saint Francis U in 1991.
In six seasons under Toole, Robert Morris has compiled an overall record of 120-87 (.580), including a mark of 73-33 (.689) against NEC foes. Toole has guided the Colonials to a pair of NEC regular-season championships (2013, 2014) as well as the 2015 NEC Tournament title.
Since the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign,
RMU has posted an overall record of 193-118 (.621), with the 193 victories tied for 13th with Valparaiso among mid-major programs in the country.
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