‘Slice’ Rohrssen is new recruiting ace
Iraqi Army Sgt. Ahmed Hassan stands sentinel in an army guard tower in the town of Abu Ghraib, just west ofBaghdad. The army and allied Shiite militiamen are struggling to hold Abu Graib and nearby Baghdad International Airport. (David Zucchino/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
November 12, 2014
By Nick Gray
Former UK basketball assistant coach Orlando Antigua accepted a head coaching job with the University of South Florida in March, leaving an open seat on the bench.
That seat was filled by head coach John Calipari’s longtime friend, Barry “Slice” Rohrssen, who joined the staff after just one season as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh.
“I was humbled when John Calipari asked me to become a member of his outstanding staff,” Rohrssen said in a statement released by UK in May. “(Calipari) embodies the meaning of the word ‘success.’ The way he prepares young men for their future, in both basketball and life, is remarkable.”
Rohrssen has one head coaching stint under his belt at Manhattan College, where he coached the Jaspers for five seasons from 2006-2011.
Despite not making the NCAA Tournament in his time there, the players that he recruited won 21 games a season later and eventually received a NCAA Tournament berth.
Antigua’s departure not only left a hole in a national champion coaching staff, but also left a chink in UK’s armor when it came to recruiting.
Rohrssen made a habit of consistently recruiting top-100 players from his hometown, New York City, and in his only year at Pittsburgh received a commitment from a top-20 player in the 2016 class.
During a press conference Friday, he explained what it’s like recruiting for UK nowadays.
“Kentucky is very well received no matter where you go and who you speak with,” Rohrssen said. “It’s nice to have that royal blue UK on your chest when you’re walking into a high school or a home.”
The Brooklyn native said that the thing that sticks out to him the most in his coaching mentality is the defensive side of the ball and said he’d stress that with his players this season.
“You’ll find that bad defensive transition teams jog back, good transition teams run back and great transition teams sprint back,” he said. “We’ve got to make an effort every time defensively in transition, not to let the ball get behind us (and) beat us down court.”
