Iona decided to fire head basketball coach Tobin Anderson just one day after the Gaels played in the A-10 conference championship game. He is out after just two seasons.
The money men in New Rochelle got their wish! They already have their next guy in mind.
Anderson, 53, was hired to replace Rick Pitino in 2023 after he led Farleigh Dickinson to a historic upset over Purdue in the NCAA Tournament. It is not easy to replace one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history so Iona went with a winner.
Anderson was one of the best Division-II coaches in the country at St. Thomas Aquinas. He flipped FDU in one year from four wins to 21 wins and the biggest upset in March Madness history. The Gaels went 12-8 in the MAAC this year and played for a conference championship on Sunday.
Although Iona has one of the bigger NIL budgets on the mid-major level of college basketball, Anderson inherited absolutely nothing from Pitino. He had to start completely from scratch and it takes time to build a program from the ground-up. News flash: winning is hard!
And yet, the Gaels reached the conference tournament final in year two. They also received a commitment from a First Team All-MAAC player to return to play for Anderson. Now he’s gone.
Would Iona have fired him if his team didn’t blow a first-half lead to Mount St. Mary’s in the MAAC championship game? Maybe not, but it seems like this decision has been in the works for awhile.
It was reported less than one hour after Tobin Anderson was fired that he will be replaced by an NBA assistant, Dan Geriot. The hire will be announced as soon as Thursday.
Iona is expected to hire New Orleans Pelicans assistant Dan Geriot later this week, likely making it official on Thursday, sources told CBS Sports. The school surprisingly fired Tobin Anderson this morning after just two seasons.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 17, 2025
That means the people with money in New Rochelle were working behind the scenes to get this lined up over the last few weeks. They got impatient with Tobin Anderson. He did not replicate the success of Pitino or Tim Cluess during either of his first two seasons. They wanted him out.
However, Pitino did not make the NCAA Tournament during his second season. Cluess missed the NCAA Tournament three times in seven years, including two years in a row.
The money men got their way at Iona. Tobin Anderson is out. Dan Geriot will soon be in.