URI Fires Men’s Basketball Coach Cox, Richard Pitino Emerging as Favorite to Replace

URI Fires Men’s Basketball Coach Cox, Richard Pitino Emerging as Favorite to Replace

David Cox is out as the Men's Basketball Head Coach at the University of Rhode Island, according to reports. 

GoLocal has learned that leading boosters at URI have New Mexico coach Richard Pitino as the number one target to replace Cox. He is the son of Rick Pitino, who was a candidate for the URI job when Cox was hired.  The senior Pitino went on to coach at Iona and led them to an NCAA bid.

Richard Pitino attended Providence College. He was 12-18 in his first year leading New Mexico.

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Overall, his 6-year deal at New Mexico is worth just shy of $5 million, with his first-year salary set at $775,000. After that, he will be paid $800,000 per season with numerous incentives, according to KOB4.

Other names floating around Kingston include Pat Skerry at Towson. He was 24-7 this year, but his career record is 171-171.

He has deep RI ties. He coached at both PC and URI.

In 2008-09, Providence advanced to the NIT with a 19-14 overall record and 10-8 BIG EAST mark.  Skerry assisted with the Friars’ 2009 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 35 in the nation by Hoop Scoop.

Prior to his time with the Friars, Skerry spent three years as an assistant coach at Rhode Island. During his time at URI, Skerry gained national recognition and was named one of the top assistant coaches in the country in 2007 by Hoop Scoop.  In 2008, Fox Sports.com went on to name Skerry the top mid-major assistant in the nation.

Another name is Archie Miller -- the former Dayton and Indiana coach. He might be way outside a URI budget. Miller's $10.3 million buyout at Indiana was the 15th-richest in NCAA men's basketball, according to the IndyStar.

 

URI Failure

Since January 22, the URI men’s basketball team won just four games and two of them were against Duquense who finished the season 6-24.

On Thursday night in the second round of the A-10 tournament, the Rams lost to Richmond after leading nearly the entire game by 10 or more points.

The loss raised more questions about the fate of URI head coach David Cox who has another year on his contract after this season.

Now, Cox is out, according to ESPN. 

 

About Cox

David Cox was named the 20th head coach in Rhode Island men’s basketball history on April 4, 2018.

Through his first two seasons, Cox is 39-24 giving him a .619 winning percentage. The only coaches in program history with a higher winning percentage and at least 50 games to their credit are Basketball Hall of Famer Frank Keaney (.764), Tom Penders (.738) and Jim Harrick (.672).

In 2019-20, Cox was one of 20 coaches included on HereSports.com’s list of candidates for National Coach of the Year. With a record of 13-5 in league play, Cox tied for the third-most conference wins in a season in Rhode Island history. Junior Fatts Russell earned Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors, while senior Jeff Dowtin was a third-team selection. Dowtin also earned Acadamic All-Conference honors for the third straight season.

Despite inheriting a team that had lost six seniors who went on to play professional basketball. Cox led Rhode Island to an 18-15 record, including a 9-9 mark in Atlantic 10 action. He was named as one of 12 national finalists for the 2019 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I. The Rams advanced to the A-10 semifinals, upsetting top-seeded VCU in the quarterfinals. Junior forward Cyril Langevine earned Second Team All-Conference honors and a spot on the league’s All-Defensive Team. Junior Jeff Dowtin was named to the Academic All-Conference Team.

Cox was named as head coach after four seasons as an assistant coach on Dan Hurley’s staff with URI. The final two of those seasons were spent as the team’s associate head coach. Cox joined the Rhody staff in May, 2014 after spending the previous four seasons as an associate head coach at Rutgers.

Since Cox came to URI in May of 2014, the Rams have made two NCAA Championship appearances and one NIT appearance, advancing to the second round all three times. Rhode Island also claimed the program’s first Atlantic 10 regular season title in 2018 and its second conference tournament title in 2017. 

In November of 2017, Cox was ranked as the No. 23 assistant coach in the country by LockDraft.com. Over his first three seasons with the Rams, the team had gone 65-35 with a pair of postseason appearances. In 2016-17, Rhode Island made its first NCAA Championship appearance since 1999, upsetting Creighton in the opening round before falling just short against eventual Final Four participant Oregon in the second round. In Cox’ first season in Rhode Island, the Rams went to the 2015 NIT and made it to the second round.

During his time at URI, Cox has been instrumental in the recruitment of Indiana transfer Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, Michael Tertsea and Fatts Russell. He was the primary recruiter for two members of the 2018 class - Jermaine Harris and Tyrese Martin. That class was ranked as a top 25 class nationally.

While at Rutgers, Cox was the Scarlet Knights’ associate head coach, helping the program recruit the 15th-best class in 2011.  He served as the interim head coach for a three-game stint in December 2012, guiding RU to a 3-0 record.

From 2007-10, Cox served as an assistant at Georgetown, helping to guide the Hoyas to a trio of post-season appearances.  In 2007-08, Georgetown compiled a 28-6 overall record en route to winning the Big East Championship and earning a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  The 2009-10 Hoya squad also won 28 games and en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.  Cox entered the college ranks as the director of basketball operations at Pittsburgh for the 2006-07 season and was part of the Panthers’ staff that went 29-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

A native of Landover, Md., Cox first coached at the high school level at Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C. from 1996-99.  He spent the next seven years as an assistant principal at his alma mater, St. John’s Prep in Washington, D.C. from 1999-2006, where he oversaw the school’s athletic department, supervised all extra-curricular activities, and served as the school’s head of discipline.

Cox began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Washington D.C. Assault AAU program. He helped guide the team to the under-16 national championship in 2004. Several of his players earned college scholarships, including Tre Kelley (South Carolina), Chris McCray (Maryland), Michael Beasley (Kansas State/Miami Heat), Nolan Smith (Duke), Dante Cunningham (Villanova/Portland Trail Blazers), Arinze Onuaku (Syracuse) and Adrian Bowie (Maryland).

A 1995 graduate of William & Mary with a degree in sociology, Cox was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at point guard for the Tribe for head coaches Chuck Swenson and Charlie Woollum.   He finished his collegiate career with 670 points, 216 rebounds, 336 assists and a .352 3-point field goal percentage and his name is located throughout the Tribe’s record book.  Cox still ranks among school leaders in several statistical categories, including 3-point field goals made (sixth, 137), total assists (eighth, 336); and 3-point field goal percentage (ninth, .352).  His career-high 12 assists against George Mason in 1995 still ranks third among all-time single-game performances in W&M basketball history.

In 1996, Cox earned his master’s degree in education from William & Mary.  He and his wife Tasha have two children - Leila and Jacob.