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Bobby Gonzalez

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Bobby Gonzalez
Gonzalez in 2009
Biographical details
Born (1963-03-18) March 18, 1963 (age 61)
Playing career
1982–1986Buffalo State
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1988Binghamton (asst.)
1988–1991St. Nicholas of Tolentine HS (asst.)
1992–1993Rice HS (asst.)
1993–1994Xavier (asst.)
1994–1998Providence (asst.)
1998–1999Virginia (asst.)
1999–2006Manhattan
2006–2010Seton Hall
2020–2021BC Nevėžis (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall195-136 (.589)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2× MAAC tournament champions (2003, 2004)
3× MAAC regular season champions (2003, 2004, 2006)
Awards
2× MAAC Coach of the Year (2003, 2006)

Robert P. Gonzalez (born March 18, 1963) is a basketball head coach. Gonzalez was previously scout for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association,[1] head coach at Manhattan College and Seton Hall University. He is well known for leading the Jaspers to two NCAA tournaments and the second NCAA tournament win in school history.

Gonzalez had previously been an assistant under Pete Gillen at Xavier, Providence and Virginia, serving as one of Gillen's top recruiters.[2]

Early life and education

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A native of Binghamton, New York, Gonzalez graduated from Buffalo State College in 1986.[3]

Coaching career

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Early coaching career (1986–1999)

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Gonzalez began his career as an assistant at Broome Community College in the 1986–87 season then moved up to the NCAA Division I level as an assistant at Binghamton in 1987–88. From 1988 to 1991, Gonzalez was an assistant at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School in The Bronx and coached AAU teams as well. In the 1992–93 school year, Gonzalez was head coach at Rice High School in Manhattan.[4]

Gonzalez later was an assistant under Pete Gillen for six seasons, first at Xavier in the 1993–94 season, then at Providence from 1994 to 1998, and finally at Virginia in the 1998–99 season.[5]

Manhattan (1999–2006)

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Gonzalez had a career record of 129–77 in seven seasons at Manhattan, including two trips to the NCAA tournament. He took the 12th-seeded Jaspers to the second round of the 2004 NCAA tournament after the team defeated five seed Florida Gators in the first round; the program's second ever NCAA Tournament win.[5]

Seton Hall (2006–2010)

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Gonzalez was hired by Seton Hall in April 2006, largely because of his recruiting pedigree and his ties to high school coaches in New York City (which is 14 miles east of Seton Hall's campus).[2]

Gonzalez's first season as Seton Hall coach ended with an under .500 record overall. The season ended with a 13–16 record and a record of 4–12 in the Big East. Seton Hall finished 13th out of 16 in the Big East and missed the Big East tournament for the first time ever.

Gonzalez's second season at Seton Hall was more successful than his first. The Pirates finished the regular season with 7 Big East wins and 17 wins overall. They qualified for the Big East tournament for the first time under Gonzalez as the 11 seed against the 6 seed Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette won the game 67–54 to advance to the quarterfinals against the University of Notre Dame. The Pirates missed out on an NIT bid and rejected an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

The 2008–09 season saw the Pirates notch an identical record to the previous year—a 17–15 overall record and a 7–11 Big East record. As the 11th seed in the 2009 Big East men's basketball tournament, they defeated 14th-seed South Florida 68–54 for their first win in the conference tournament in six years. However, they lost the next day to Syracuse, 89–74. School officials rewarded with Gonzalez a contract extension that would have kept him at Seton Hall until 2015.[6]

Gonzalez led the 2009–10 Pirates to postseason play for the first time in four years, with a berth in the NIT. Six minutes into the Pirates' first-round matchup with Texas Tech, forward Herb Pope knocked Texas Tech's Darko Cohadarevic to the floor with a punch to the groin. After officials reviewed the play on the replay monitor, Pope was ejected from the game, and Seton Hall subsequently lost 87–69.[7]

The next day on March 17, 2010, Seton Hall fired Gonzalez. Despite the Pirates' on-court improvement, school officials did not believe that he was a good representative for Seton Hall. According to The Star-Ledger, Seton Hall University School of Law dean Patrick Hobbs, who oversaw the athletic department at the time, recommended Gonzalez's firing on the weekend before the NIT. In a statement released after Gonzalez' ouster, Hobbs said that Seton Hall had "core expectations" for how coaches and players conduct themselves.[8] Seton Hall president Monsignor Robert Sheeran made the final decision to fire Gonzalez, saying that he no longer had confidence in Gonzalez' "ability to coach and to lead." He added that "athletics never exist to besmirch the university in any way."[9] School officials were displeased with Gonzalez's behavior—specifically, his tendency to berate Seton Hall administrators, opposing coaches, opposing players and referees. They were also concerned about several incidents involving Seton Hall players.[8][10][9]

A month after his firing, Gonzalez sued Seton Hall for wrongful termination, seeking to be paid for the last two years of his contract.[11] The suit was settled in August 2010; terms were not disclosed.[12]

After Seton Hall (2010–present)

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Since leaving Seton Hall, Gonzalez has been a scout for NBA teams, motivational speaker, basketball analyst on TV and radio, and consultant.[13]

Gonzalez was the assistant coach of BC Nevėžis of Lithuanian Basketball League for the 2020-21 season.

In 2021, Gonzalez joined the Detroit Pistons as a scout.[1]

USA Basketball

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Gonzalez was an assistant coach with the 2005 USA Basketball World University Games Team that won a gold medal in Turkey. He was also a court coach for the 2002 USA Junior National Team Trials.[5]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Manhattan Jaspers (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (1999–2006)
1999–2000 Manhattan 12–15 9–9 6th
2000–01 Manhattan 14–15 11–7 6th
2001–02 Manhattan 20–9 12–6 3rd NIT First Round
2002–03 Manhattan 23–7 14–4 1st NCAA Round of 64
2003–04 Manhattan 25–6 16–2 1st NCAA Round of 32
2004–05 Manhattan 15–14 9–9 5th
2005–06 Manhattan 20–11 14–4 1st NIT Second Round
Manhattan: 129–77 85–41
Seton Hall Pirates (Big East Conference) (2006–2010)
2006–07 Seton Hall 13–16 4–12 13th
2007–08 Seton Hall 17–15 7–11 11th
2008–09 Seton Hall 17–15 7–11 11th
2009–10 Seton Hall 19–13 9–9 10th NIT First Round
Seton Hall: 66–59 27–43
Total: 195–136

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ a b Straka, Dean (October 13, 2021). "Detroit Pistons hire former Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez to scouting department, report says". 247Sports. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Caldwell, Dave (2006-04-07). "Seton Hall to Hire Gonzalez". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  3. ^ Armstrong, Kevin; Thamel, Pete (2010-03-08). "Seton Hall's Bobby Gonzalez Is a Divisive Figure in the Big East". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  4. ^ "Bobby Gonzalez". Manhattan College. Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Bobby Gonzalez". Seton Hall Pirates. 2009. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  6. ^ Star-Ledger, Brendan Prunty/The (2009-09-10). "Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez given three-year contract extension". nj. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  7. ^ Pelzman, J.P. (March 17, 2010). "Seton Hall ousted from NIT by Texas Tech after Herb Pope's early ejection". The Record. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Prunty, Brendan (March 17, 2010). "Bobby Gonzalez forced out as Seton Hall men's basketball coach". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Pelzman, J.P. (March 18, 2010). "Seton Hall fires basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez". The Record. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012.
  10. ^ Prunty, Brendan; Politi, Steve (March 18, 2010). "Personal behavior, actions of players cost Bobby Gonzalez his job at Seton Hall". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 2010-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  11. ^ Prunty, Brendan (April 9, 2010). "Former Seton Hall men's basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez files lawsuit against university". The Star-Ledger.
  12. ^ Ryan, Joe (August 17, 2010). "Case settled between ex-Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez and university". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  13. ^ Kusoy, Howie (March 17, 2014). "Former Manhattan coach Gonzalez says he's still in the game". New York Post. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
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