Sources - Iona eyes FDU's Tobin Anderson to replace Pitino

Fairleigh Dickinson's Tobin Anderson, the breakout coaching star of the NCAA tournament, has emerged as the top target to be the next coach at Iona, sources told ESPN.

Anderson would replace Rick Pitino, who left Iona for St. John's on Monday after three seasons. In replacing Pitino, Iona appears poised to strike quickly and land a coach within a short time frame. Pitino left Iona on Monday and is being introduced at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

In his first year at FDU, Anderson led the team to what many consider the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history. The 16th seeded Knights stunned No. 1 Purdue, 63-58, for just the second upset of a No. 1 seed in the first round since the men's tournament expanded to 64 teams back in 1985. That propelled a small-school lifer to become a household name in college basketball in the course of a weekend.

In the wake of the upset, FDU and Anderson emerged as the darlings of the NCAA tournament, including an appearance on the Today Show on Monday morning upon return from the Round of 32 loss to ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic in Columbus.

The victory illuminated the path of Anderson, an Iowa native who hopscotched his way through a pair of Division III head coaching jobs and nine seasons at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas before landing the Fairleigh Dickinson job in May. He took over a four-win team and went 21-16.

Sources told ESPN that Anderson impressed the Iona brass when the Gaels job last opened back in 2020. Anderson spoke in person to Iona officials and was one of the three finalists when they hired Pitino back in 2020, per sources. This time, Anderson is in line to replace him.

Anderson's Fairleigh Dickinson team advanced with two victories in the NCAA tournament — a