Having already raided Iona for its basketball coach, Seton Hall has now done the same with its athletic director.
Seton Hall on Tuesday named former Iona AD Pat Lyons, 36, as its new athletic director.
The Big East school had been without a full-time AD since Joe Quinlan stepped down in September.
Lyons, who served as Kevin Willard’s boss when Willard was the basketball coach at Iona, is expected to join the Pirates full-time on March 28.
“In Patrick Lyons, Seton Hall has found an athletic director dedicated to the University’s Catholic mission and to the development of our student athletes as servant leaders of the future,” Seton Hall president Dr. A. Gabriel Esteban said in a statement. “Patrick’s outstanding accomplishments throughout his career promise even greater achievements for Seton Hall’s athletic department and our participation in the Big East Conference.”
Pat Hobbs, the head of the Seton Hall law school, led the five-person search committee that hired Lyons. Hobbs has been leading the athletic department since last spring and was the man who fired Gonzalez after the former coach let loose in an expletive-filled phone call with his boss.
“I am absolutely delighted that Pat is joining us at Seton Hall,” Hobbs said. “Pat has done a remarkable job at Iona. He’s a proven leader who has brought their programs and facilities up to the major conference level. Pat helped build a tradition of winning and integrity in New Rochelle and will bring that same passion to transform Seton Hall in years to come.”
Quinlan and former basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez never got along and featured contrasting personalities.
In Lyons and Willard, Seton Hall has a duo that has proven it can work and succeed together.
The Iona men’s basketball team won 21 games in 2009-10 under Willard and has continued its success this year under first-year head coach Tim Cluess, ranking among the leaders in the MAAC and the New York Metropolitan Area.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to lead the Seton Hall University athletics department,” Lyons said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of furthering the department and helping to establish it as one of the most respected programs both in the Big East and at a national level. I also look forward to building on the legacy and tradition of Seton Hall Athletics.”
One of Lyons’ first challenges will be helping to support Willard rebuild the basketball program in the wake of the Gonzalez Era.
Already this season, sophomore big man Ferrakohn Hall transferred to Memphis and Keon Lawrence and Jamel Jackson were dismissed for violating curfew.
Next year’s team will lose several key players, including seniors Jeremy Hazell and Jeff Robinson.
