Report: Steve Pikiell Promotes Steve Hayn As Next Rutgers Men’s Basketball Assistant

The search is over.

After Jay Young moved on to take the Fairfield Stags head coaching spot, Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell had a major hole to fill on his assistant coaching staff. And while it seems like Pikiell did his due diligence interviewing for the position, he didn’t have to go far to fill it.

Steve Hayn was a senior advisor to Steve Pikiell. He was formerly the head coach for the United States Merchant Marines Academy. Before that he was an assistant at Central Connecticut State with Steve Pikiell under Howie Dickenman. He’s been in coaching for over 25 years.

With Young leaving, the Scarlet Knights lost their defensive coordinator and big man coach. While some thought Pikiell might chase another recruiter, it’s clear how much Pikiell stresses Xs and Os and player development. Hayn knows the system Pikiell wants to run and can step in to try and fill Young’s shoes.

This is a huge offseason for Rutgers, even as there is a ton of hype for next season already. With the new practice facility opening in weeks, there is a lot of potential for Pikiell and top recruiting coach Brandin Knight to pull in the talent. However, by promoting from within, Pikiell is doing his best to create some consistency on the court defensively.

With less than six months until the season begins, and a trip to Spain in the works this August, there will be no learning curve for the new assistant.

Rutgers main coaching spots are filled, however, Pikiell still needs to fill the Director of Basketball Operations spot left open as Bryan Dougher moved on with Young.

Keep it here for more updates from On the Banks.

Update: Rutgers made the hiring of Hayn official on June 4th