Kevin Tirone is in his first full-time college coaching position, having joined coach Jim Engles’ new NJIT staff in the summer of 2008.
Tirone, who was raised in Staten Island, NY, got involved with coaching when he was an undergraduate at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
At Saint Joe’s, Tirone worked for head coach Phil Martelli, the 2003-04 national Coach of the Year, after an Elite Eight postseason appearance that included three future NBA players, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Dwayne Jones. Tirone was a student assistant for the Hawks during the 2004-05 season as they advanced to the National Invitation Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden.
In addition to Coach Martelli, Tirone worked for assistant coaches Monte Ross (now head coach at Delaware), Mike Rice (later top assistant at Pitt and head coach at Robert Morris, and now head coach at Rutgers) and Mark Bass.
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 began operation in 1963. He also directed individual camps of Bob Hurley (St. Anthony High School) and Kevin Boyle (St. Patrick’s High School) and he worked closely with Hoop Group President Rob Kennedy.
From the Hoop Group, Tirone headed west to Robert Morris University in the Pittsburgh, PA, area and worked as Director of Basketball Operations in 2007-08 on the staff headed by Mike Rice.
The Colonials finished 26-8 (most wins in school history) and they upset Atlantic Coast Conference power Boston College and Fordham in non-conference play, while posting a 16-2 Northeast Conference record. As regular season champion of the NEC, Robert Morris went to the NIT, where it faced Syracuse. Mike Rice was National Association of Basketball Coaches District III Coach of the Year and Robert Morris player Tony Lee was NEC Player of the Year.
“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 started his coaching career at Robert Morris and they had their best season when he was out there,” Jim Engles said when he hired Tirone. “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.”
He resides in Jersey City, NJ
