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Iona hires FDU coach Tobin Anderson

Tyler Schank / NCAA Photos / Getty

Iona hired Fairleigh Dickinson bench boss Tobin Anderson as head coach, the school announced Tuesday.

The Gaels and Anderson agreed to a five-year deal, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

The Knights promoted assistant Jack Castleberry to fill Anderson's role, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reports.

"It's obviously hard to leave FDU after what we just did, but this is an opportunity to go to a place that can be an east coast power," Anderson told Stadium's Jeff Goodman.

Anderson recently guided the Knights to the second 16-over-1 upset in NCAA Tournament history. He engineered one of the sport's biggest turnarounds during his lone year at Fairleigh Dickinson, lifting the school to a 21-16 record after it recorded a four-win campaign in 2021-22.

The 51-year-old replaces Rick Pitino, who joined St. John's on a reported six-year deal Monday. Anderson was one of three finalists for Iona's vacancy in 2020, according to Thamel.

"We have long known (Anderson) to be a fantastic coach and an even better person," Iona athletic director Matthew Glovaski said in a statement. "Now, with his team's impressive run in the NCAA Tournament, everyone paying attention to March Madness also knows this."

Prior to his stop with the Knights, Anderson spent nine years at the helm of Division II school St. Thomas Aquinas.

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