After former Colonial head coach Mike Rice announced that he was leaving the university to take the same position at Big East bottom-feeder Rutgers, Robert Morris stayed in house to replace him.
Andrew Toole was named the new head coach of the men's basketball team, after spending two seasons (2008-10) as the associate head coach and one season (2007-08) as an assistant. At 29 years, eight months and three days, Toole becomes the youngest active head coach at the NCAA Division I level, just edging out new Appalachian State hire Jason Capel (30 years, three months, 29 days).
“Coach (Andrew) Toole has had as much to do with the success of the Robert Morris program the last three years as anyone. His tireless commitment to improve the program, whether it was recruiting, player development or game day preparation, was unmatched by any other assistant. Robert Morris basketball is in great hands.” - Mike Rice, Head Coach, Rutgers University
Toole started four years at two different programs in his collegiate playing career. He started his career at Elon (1998-2000) then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania (2000-03) to finish his education. With the Quakers, Toole helped lead them to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a 7-1 overall record against the Philadelphia Big 5 (LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova). The only loss came in 2002-03, when they fell to St. Joseph's.
After graduating with his Bachelor's in Political Science, he spent 2004 through 2006 around the game of basketball. He was the director of the Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic; the nation's largest high school exposure camp. He also was the director of Rebounds, which is a 28,000 square foot facility where high school players work on their development.
Before finding a job with the Colonials in 2007, he spent a season with Lafayette College of the Patriot League. He was the coaching staff's main recruiter and his players led the Lepoards to the 2010 Patriot League Tournament championship game against Lehigh.
Toole has a very talented nucleus to work with, led by sophomore guard Karon Abraham. After speaking with Coach Toole last November, I was impressed with his charisma, dedication and passion for not only the game of basketball, but Robert Morris in general. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll do a fantastic job with the Colonials and that Athletic Director Craig Coleman made the right hire.
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