The former assistant coach has now officially named his own assistants.
On Thursday men’s basketball head coach Nate Oats named three assistant coaches for the 2015-16 season: former St. Johns assistant coach Jim Whitesell, ex-UConn standout Donyell Marshall and former Midland coach Bryan Hodgson. Assistant coach Ben Wood, who served with Oats under former head coach Bobby Hurley, was not named an assistant coach under Oats.
Whitesell spent five seasons as the head coach at Elmhurst College from 1987-1992 before spending the next 12 seasons as the head coach at Lewis University. He then spent seven seasons as the head coach of Loyola University before accepting the assistant coaching position at Saint Louis from 2011-13.
Whitesell spent the last two seasons as the assistant coach of St. Johns under Steve Lavin before accepting the position at Buffalo.
Marshall was the fourth overall pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1994 draft after an impressive career at the University of Connecticut. Marshall played for eight different teams in 14 seasons before retiring in 2009. After a one-year stint as an analyst for Comcast SportsNet he accepted an assistant coaching position at George Washington.
He then accepted an assistant coaching position with the Maine Red Claws, the D-League counterpart to the Boston Celtics, before being named the assistant coach at Rider University in 2013.
Hodgson was previously the assistant coach at Midland College in Midland, Texas before being named the assistant coach in Buffalo. Bulls recruit Maurice O’Field was coached by Hodgson at Midland and the two are expected to come to Buffalo together.
On Thursday Buffalo recruit Nate Navigato decommitted from the program, according to Scott Burgess of Prep Hoops Illinois.
O’Field is still committed to Buffalo and the arrival of his assistant coach may help his decision to stay.
Jordan Grossman is the senior sports editor and can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
