The Knicks have made several front office additions, including hiring Craig Robinson, Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, who was named vice president of player development and G League operations.
The team also announced the hiring of the following front office personnel: Gerald Madkins has been named assistant general manager, Harold Ellis as director, player personnel, Michael Arcieri as director, basketball strategy and Fred Cofield as scout.
“Last month, the day after I was hired, I started a full evaluation of the entire basketball operations staff,” Knicks General Manager Scott Perry said. “My first goal was to build-up the highest level front office in the NBA. We are adding a host of highly-regarded and respected basketball people to work with the Knicks to fortify the franchise for years to come.”
Robinson, 55, is the older brother of Michelle Obama, the former First Lady, and a former Princeton teammate of Knicks President Steve Mills.
“He has an outstanding eye for talent, a great feel for teaching and wonderful relationships with his players,” said Tulane associate head coach Doug Stewart, who worked for Robinson at Oregon State.
The Robinson news was first reported by The Vertical.
Robinson previously served as the head coach at both Brown and Oregon State. Most recently, he worked for the Milwaukee Bucks, for whom he attended the NBA Combine in Chicago in May.
Ellis joins the organization after five seasons with Orlando as director of pro scouting. Previously, he spent four seasons with Detroit as a scout (2009-12) and as an assistant coach (2008-09) and six seasons with Atlanta as a minor league coordinator/scout.
Arcieri, spent the past five seasons with Orlando, most recently serving as director of basketball operations during the 2016-17 season after being the director of basketball administration since 2012-13.
Cofield was originally selected by New York in the fourth round (73rd overall) of 1985 NBA Draft and averaged 3.7 points over 45 games during the 1985-86 season.
Photo: Daily News
