St. John’s and associate head coach Barry “Slice” Rohrssen are finalizing a buyout agreement and will soon part ways, multiple sources told SNY.tv.
After leaving John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky to return to his native New York for the 2015-16 season, Rohrssen served under first year coach and close friend Chris Mullin when the Red Storm finished 8-24, 1-17 in the Big East. Rohrssen had several years left on his contract.
“He definitely will not be back at St. John’s next year,” one source said.
Both sides declined comment for this story.
It remains unclear exactly what happened, or who will take Rohrssen’s spot on the St. John’s staff. One possibility is to elevate grad assistant Luca Virgilio, who was instrumental in the recruitment of Italian point guard Federico Mussini. Another is to elevate special assistant Mitch Richmond, a six-time NBA All-Star, to assistant coach.
Prior to his time at Kentucky, Rohrssen served his second stint as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh for the 2013-14 season when he helped lead the Panthers to a 26-10 record and NCAA Tournament berth. Before returning to Pitt, Rohrssen worked for the Portland Trail Blazers organization in 2012-13 assisting their NBA Development League team.
Before that, Rohrssen served as both the head coach at Manhattan and an assistant under both Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon at Pitt.
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