Jamie Dixon has to hire a new assistant.

Joe Lombardi, an assistant coach at Pitt the past three seasons, will be named the new head coach at IUP today.

A news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Lombardi, 46, replaces Gary Edwards, who was not retained after this past season. Lombardi has many connections to the school and the town of Indiana. He was an assistant coach there from 1984-87 and his wife, Janet, was born and raised there.

This is the first head coaching job for Lombardi, who previously worked as an assistant at La Salle, St. Bonaventure and St. Francis, Pa., before coming to Pitt.

Even though Lombardi only spent three years at Pitt, he made an impact in recruiting circles.

Lombardi was the lead recruiter for Sam Young, one of the top freshmen in the Big East last season, and Gilbert Brown, a top-rated shooting guard who will play for the Panthers next season.

Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen gets lots of credit for his recruiting work, but Joe Lombardi has done an excellent job in recruiting. He was also instrumental in getting Trevor Ferguson to commit to Pitt last spring. (Okay, the kid didn’t stay once he saw the competition but that’s pretty good consider Ferguson never visited prior to making a written commitment.)
Lombardi was also the lead recruiter on Hamady N’diaye, the Center prospect who plans to make his commitment next week.