Rosemond hired as Indiana’s third assistant coach

New Indiana head coach Mike Woodson had three countable coaching positions to fill on his staff following his hiring on March 28.

Two and a half weeks into his tenure, all three spots have been addressed.

Kenya Hunter, a holdover from former coach Archie Miller’s staff, was first. Dane Fife, a former Hoosier guard and longtime Michigan State assistant, was second. And now, Woodson is turning to former Alabama assistant Yasir Rosemond for the third job.

Indiana made Rosemond’s hiring official on Wednesday, bringing Woodson’s bench staff whole. The 43-year-old Rosemond, who has not coached in college since 2019 when the Crimson Tide fired former head coach Avery Johnson, has also had stints at Georgia (2014-17), Samford (2012-14), Seattle (2010-11), Oregon (2006-2010) and Redlands Community College (2005-06).

A footnote to Rosemond’s biography is that he was named in connection with the 2017 FBI probe into corruption in college basketball recruiting. From a 2019 story by the Tuscaloosa News:

Former University of Alabama assistant men’s basketball coach Yasir Rosemond was included in one group of assistant coaches identified in federal court Thursday as having met with agent runner Christian Dawkins and Marty Blazer, according to testimony from Blazer.

CBS Sports reporter Matt Norlander, who is covering the trial of Dawkins in New York federal court, quoted Blazer as saying Rosemond met with Dawkins, Blazer and undercover agents working for the FBI in July 2017.

Rosemond was named by Blazer among a group of coaches from Arizona State (Anthony Coleman), Clemson (Steve Smith), UConn (Raphael Chillious) and Texas A&M (Amir Abdur-Rahim) who met with Dawkins, Blazer and undercover agents, but (per Norlander’s Twitter posts from the trial) they “didn’t receive $ (money) b/c they weren’t consider worthy enough yet, i.e. they didn’t have pull w/ prospects.”

The same story in the Tuscaloosa News reports that, as part of a 2017 internal investigation at Alabama, Rosemond was not implicated or tied to any misconduct. He was never charged in relation to the FBI case.

Judging from his Twitter presence, Rosemond has spent the past two seasons visiting other programs around the country, including Georgia, Kentucky and others, while also working with individual players such as Ohio State commit Bruce Thornton, among others.

“I’m excited to finalize our coaching staff with the addition of Yasir,” Woodson said in a statement. ”He brings a great deal of experience at schools like Alabama, Georgia and Oregon and has been a big contributor to their success and worked with and recruited a number of young men who were able to develop and take their game to the next level.”

In addition to Rosemond’s hiring, IU also announced that several other staff positions have been filled with Archie Miller-era holdovers.

Benny Sander has been promoted to director of basketball operations, Brian Walsh will be the new team and recruitment coordinator and Mike Roberts will become the assistant AD for basketball administration. Clif Marshall will also remain on staff as the strength and conditioning coach. Marshall, Sander and Walsh will begin their fifth year at IU, while Roberts will enter his third season.

Rosemond, an Atlanta native who played and coached in the pacific northwest, will help IU cast a wide recruiting net. Dane Fife, a product of the midwest, has also recruited nationally for Michigan State, while Kenya Hunter is known for his connections on the East Coast.