Report: Fairleigh Dickinson's Tobin Anderson to become Iona's next head coach

Just a few days after leading Fairleigh Dickinson to a victory over Purdue as a No. 16 seed, Knights head coach Tobin Anderson is reportedly leaving for a new job. He’s set to become the new head coach at Iona, according to multiple reports.

Anderson will replace Rick Pitino, who left the Gaels after three seasons for St. John’s. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported Anderson has told the FDU players about his intentions to take the job shortly after news broke about his candidacy. ESPN’s Pete Thamel also said Anderson was “one of three finalists” for the Iona job in 2020 before Pitino’s hiring and will receive a five-year deal.

Anderson just wrapped up his first season with Fairleigh Dickinson after nine years at Division II Saint Thomas Aquinas, leading the Knights to a 21-16 overall record and a 10-6 record in Northeast Conference action. FDU fell to Merrimack in the NEC tournament, but earned the automatic bid because Merrimack is still transitioning to Division I. That led the Knights to the First Four, where they beat Texas Southern before making headlines by becoming the second No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in men’s tournament history.

More background on Tobin Anderson

Anderson previously worked at the D-I level as an assistant at Siena from 2011-13 before taking over at Saint Thomas Aquinas. With the Spartans, he totaled a 209-62 overall record and a 128-30 mark in conference play to lead the program to seven NCAA Tournaments. Before that, he worked as the head coach at D-III Clarkson from 1999-2004 and at D-II Hamilton from 2004-11. All told, Anderson has a 415-141 record across the three levels he’s been a head coach.

Three key players for Fairleigh Dickinson transferred to Fairleigh Dickinson from Saint Thomas Aquinas — Anderson’s previous stops. That includes leading scorer Demetre Roberts and second-leading scorer Grant Singleton, who averaged 16.6 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. Both players were graduate transfers, meaning they’re out of eligibility. Junior Sean Moore was the third STA transfer, and he led the charge in the victory over Purdue with 19 points.

Now, Anderson is gearing up to take over for Pitino, who’s heading back to his native New York to try and resurrect St. John’s. He’ll now lead a program that finished 27-8 overall and 17-3 in MAAC play this past season. Pitino took the Gaels to two NCAA Tournaments over three years and an NIT appearance last year before leaving to replace Mike Anderson at St. John’s and try to resurrect that program.