Rutgers men’s basketball assistant coach Karl Hobbs is leaving Rutgers
Basketball Analyst Jeff Goodman announced on Twitter that Rutgers men’s basketball assistant coach Karl Hobbs is leaving the Scarlet Knights to join Georgia Tech’s coaching staff. Hobbs accepted an assistant coaching position under Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire.
Hobbs and Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell have spent several years together. The 61-year-old Hobbs played and coached with Pikiell at UConn in the 1980s. After their time at UConn, Pikiell served as Hobbs’s assistant at George Washington for four seasons. Hobbs joined the Scarlet in 2016 when Pikiell got hired as the head coach. When Hobbs joined the Scarlet Knights, he was granted the associate head coaching position and held this position for the last seven seasons. Hobbs’s decision allows Pikiell to shake up his coaching staff.
Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire will hire Karl Hobbs as his associate head coach, source told @Stadium.
Hobbs has been at Rutgers with Steve Pikiell.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 12, 2023
Hobbs’s replacement
According to the Asbury Park Press, there are two strong candidates to replace Hobbs, Princeton’s associate head coach Brett MacConnell, and Stetson University’s assistant coach Jonathan Mitchell.
Since MacConnell joined the Princeton coaching staff in 2012-13, the Tigers have gone 164-94 overall and 87-39 in conference play. The former Rutgers basketball manager has three Ivy League regular-season titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and one Sweet 16 appearance with the Tigers. 36-year-old MaConnell is an excellent recruiter, receiving credit for Princeton’s 2022-2023 Sweet 16 roster.
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The second candidate is former Rutgers forward Jonathan Mitchell. Mitchell, a former New York native, graduated from Rutgers in 2011. Mitchell has been an assistant at Stetson University for the past four seasons. Before arriving at Stetson, Mitchell played a seven-year professional career in several European countries, including Spain, Israel, France, Greece, Hungary, and Iceland.
With Hobbs gone, there are two assistants on Rutgers’ coaching staff, TJ Thompson and Brandin Knight. Hobbs leaving does not figure to impact any commitments in the class of 2024.
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