Kevin Tirone, who will be in his first full-time college coaching position, comes to NJIT after assisting the staff at Robert Morris in 2007-08, as the Colonials posted a school-record 26 wins (26-8), won the Northeast Conference regular season championship (16-2) and played in the 2008 postseason National Invitation Tournament.

As an undergraduate at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Tirone worked under 2003-04 national Coach of Year Phil Martelli and was a student assistant coach for Martelli in 2004-05.

The Hawk players he worked with included Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Dwayne Jones, who went on from Saint Joseph's to play in the NBA. Tirone also worked closely with Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Pat Carroll breaking down game action video.

After graduating from Saint Joe's, Tirone worked for The Hoop Group, the largest basketball instruction organization in the world. Among Tirone's myriad of duties was directing the time-honored Pocono Invitational Basketball Camp, a prestigious overnight camp that has been in operation since 1963. He also directed the individual camps of legendary high school coaches Bob Hurley (St. Anthony's of Jersey City, NJ) and Kevin Boyle (St. Patrick's of Elizabeth, NJ) and worked closely with Hoop Group President Rob Kennedy.

"Kevin is young, but he's already been part of teams that had built up to achieve great success at Saint Joe's and at Robert Morris. He starting his coaching career at Robert Morris and they had their best season when he was out there," Engles said. "And his work at the Hoop Group has made him part of a vast network of coaches--some of the top coaches in the country."