Woodson Hires Former Alabama Assistant Yasir Rosemond to Final Staff Spot

Yasir Rosemond will join Kenya Hunter and Dane Fine as Mike Woodson's full-time assistants. Rosemond, a former Alabama assistant with 14 years of coaching experience, was hired on Wednesday.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mike Woodson added his third and final full-time assistant coach on Wednesday, as the school announced the hiring of Yasir Rosemond,

Rosemond has been a college coach for 14 years, He spent two years at Alabama as a member of Avery Johnson’s staff and coached first-round draft picks Collin Sexton of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kira Lewis Jr. of the New Orleans Pelicans. 

He also coached SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Herbert Jones in each of his first two seasons at Alabama and John Petty Jr. and Alex Reese in their first two seasons at Alabama. Rosemond joins Kenya Hunter, a holdover from Archie Miller's staff, and former Hoosier Dane Fife, who was hired away from Michigan State to come home to Bloomington.

“I’m excited to finalize our coaching staff with the addition of Yasir,” Woodson said in a news release from the school. “He brings a great deal of experience at schools like Alabama, Georgia and Oregon and has been a big contributor to their success and worked with and recruited a number of young men who were able to develop and take their game to the next level.”

Rosemond's name came up during the 2019 trial of Christian Dawkins as one of about a dozen assistant coaches who was caught on tape talking about providing benefits to recruits while he was at Alabama. He was investigated by the school, but no wrongdoing was found and he stayed on Johnson's staff. He was not retained when Nate Oats was hired two years ago.

New Indiana assistant coach Yasir Rosemond.

More staff announcements made

There is other staff news as well, according to the release from Indiana. 

Woodson also has announced that Benny Sander has been promoted to Director of Basketball Operations, Brian Walsh will be the new Team and Recruitment Coordinator and Mike Roberts will become the Assistant AD for Basketball Administration. 

Director of Athletic Performance Clif Marshall also will remain on staff. Marshall, Sander and Walsh will begin their fifth year at IU, while Roberts will enter his third season.

“These men all will play valuable roles in the success of the program and the more I have gotten to know them it becomes more evident that they have great passion for our young men and I can’t wait to continue to work with them on a daily basis,”  Woodson said.

Rosemond joined the Crimson Tide after spending three seasons at Georgia (2014-17). The Atlanta native also held coaching positions at Oregon, helping the Ducks reach the 2007 Elite Eight, Samford and Seattle University during his 13-year coaching career.

While at Oregon, Rosemond coached three future NBA draft picks, including All-American Aaron Brooks (26th overall pick in 2007 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets), Maarty Leunen (54th overall pick in 2008 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets) and Malik Hairston (48th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns).

Furthermore, Rosemond also coached former standout Tajuan Porter, who holds the University of Oregon and Pac-12 record for three-pointers made in a single-season (110) and for a career (345). Porter, the 2007 Pac-10 Tournament MVP, currently ranks eighth in school history for career field goals made (584) and ninth in career steals (103).

Prior to his three years at Georgia, Rosemond worked at Samford from 2012-14 under former IU assistant coach Bennie Seltzer, after spending the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach at Seattle University under head coach Cameron Dollar.

Rosemond, a graduate of the University of Oregon, made his mark on the collegiate basketball landscape during his five seasons (2005-10) at his alma mater under head coach Ernie Kent. The first two of those years he was Director of Basketball Operations, the latter three serving as an assistant coach.

While on the Ducks’ coaching staff, Rosemond helped assemble a top-25 recruiting class in 2008 and also coached Brooks, a 2007 All-American and 10-year NBA veteran currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Before joining the staff at Oregon, Rosemond coached as an assistant for two seasons at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He helped the Cougars advance to the NJCAA championship game during 2004. In his two seasons at Redlands, Rosemond coached three junior college All-America performers – Taj Gray, Brandon Polk and Sylvester Mayes.

As a player, Rosemond was a standout guard at Douglass High School in Atlanta. Highlights of his prep career include earning All-State honors each of final three seasons. He helped lead the Astros to the semifinals of the 1993 Class 4A state tournament.

Rosemond then played at No. 1-ranked Okaloosa-Walton Junior College in Florida for one season during 1995-96 and also attended Butler (Kan.) Community College, where he redshirted during the 1996-97 campaign. While there, he was teammates with future NBA standout Stephen Jackson.

Rosemond moved on to Oregon for two seasons, where he played in 58 career games for the Ducks. He was honored as the recipient of the team’s John Warren Award in 1999, which is given to the most inspirational player on the Oregon basketball team.

Rosemond then enjoyed a four-season professional career in Brazil, playing for teams in Sao Paulo, Mogi das Cruzes and Hebraica while also working on his degree.

After he retired from professional basketball, Rosemond returned to Eugene and completed the final class (calculus) required to receive his bachelor’s in sociology from Oregon in 2003.

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