Image Courtesy Penn State Athletics
Welcome back to the latest edition of the Fordham head coaching search. 13 months after the hiring of Kyle Neptune, who would have thought that it’d be time to find his successor? Not me, that’s for sure!
Alas, after leading Fordham to their best season in nearly eight years, Coach Neptune left Fordham in a very promising state, opening the door for a head coach hunt that could rival even last season’s. While Adam Zagoria of the New York Times reported earlier this week that Fordham had cast a wide net in terms of interviews, including the likes of Jared Grasso, Bruiser Flint, and Brandin Knight. Despite the national search, Zagoria also reported that Fordham was looking to move quickly, and hoped to make an announcement as early as today.
Ivan Thomas, Bruiser Flint, Brandin Knight and Jared Grasso are interviewing at @FordhamMBB , per source https://t.co/MdbpPZpM7O
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 24, 2022
Late Monday night, it seems that Fordham finalized their search, and ultimately decided to look within the program for their next head coach. According to CBS Sports’ John Rothstein on Twitter, Fordham will move Associate Head Coach and current Interim HC Keith Urgo into the full time position. While Rothstein reported that an official announcement would be arriving shortly, Fordham Athletics has not made a statement as of 9:00 AM EST.
Sources: Fordham will hire Keith Urgo as its next head basketball coach. Urgo was the top assistant under Kyle Neptune.
Official announcement expected soon.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 26, 2022
If you follow Fordham basketball enough to see what the players are saying on social media, it’s clear that Urgo is their guy. When looking at his time both at Fordham and elsewhere, it makes a ton of sense. First, in terms of his standing with the team, Urgo is clearly a popular guy. As soon as the news regarding Neptune’s departure broke, several graduating and returning Fordham players expressed their support for Urgo to assume the position. Throughout the season, Urgo was a key presence on the Fordham bench, and frequently represented Fordham in postgame interviews. With about five days to go before the transfer portal closes, the fact that we haven’t seen an influx of Rams proves that Urgo has some pull with this team, and that they’re not ready to go back to square one.
Keith Urgo is the Guy!! https://t.co/iZ4R1HEFUF
— Antrell Charlton (@AntrellCharlton) April 21, 2022
An advocate for the program and his players, Urgo also enters the role very familiar with the gameplan Kyle Neptune cultivated in the Bronx, while also carrying over some direct knowledge during his time as an assistant under…Villanova’s Jay Wright. If Fordham fans are worried about losing the 4-out next season, I think putting Urgo in the driver’s seat will make sure that this game plan will stay, and continue to develop as Fordham’s incoming class hones their skills. If the administration decides to keep Urgo for at least one season before casting a wider, and more prepared, net, I really can’t see Fordham taking a huge step back.
