Former Pitt Basketball Players Filling College, High School Coaching Staffs Across the Country

The number one way to judge how good a college basketball program is in a certain era is to look at its win/loss record.

Does the program win? How does it perform in its conference? Did it win any championships? All questions that can be answered with a few google searches.

Another way? Looking at all of the professional players the school produced. Another easily-researchable statistic that some people judge a program on.

However, when looking at the success of the Pitt basketball program from the mid-90s until now, one thing has to be taken into consideration: all of the former players that have gone on to become coaches. High-level coaches, that is.

In this story, Pittsburgh Sports Now breaks down all of the former Pitt players in recent history who have gone on to successful coaching careers, including a few who have been promoted as recently as this spring.

Brandin Knight

Assistant Coach – Rutgers University

The two-time All Big East star played 127 games in his Pitt career from 1999-2003. Knight made a huge jump in between his sophomore and junior seasons with the Panthers, going from an average of 9.2 points to 15.6 points per game in his junior campaign. Knight finished his Pitt career with two Sweet Sixteen appearances and later went on to spend ten years on the Pitt coaching staff. Knight rose from Video Coordinator up to Assistant Coach, a role he held from 2008-16 before taking the job at Rutgers. He has been an assistant coach at Rutgers since then and is one of the most respected assistants in all of college basketball.

January 6, 2015: Pittsburgh’s Assistant Coach Brandin Knight and Pittsburgh’s Head Coach Jamie Dixon. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers defeated the Boston College Eagles 61-60 (OT) in an ACC basketball matchup at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. — Icon/Sportwire

Tray Woodall

Assistant Coach – St. Bonaventure University 

After redshirting his freshman year with the Panthers, Woodall went on to play a large role for the Panthers from 2009-13. The 6-foot guard from Brooklyn scored over 1,100 points in a Pitt uniform and earned All-Big East honors in the 2012-13 season. That year, he averaged 11.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game, leading the Panthers to a 24-9 record and a third place finish in the Big East. In his Pitt career, Woodall was a part of three NCAA tournament squads. After playing professionally for a few years, he went on to coach at Robert Morris, serving as Director of Basketball Ops before being promoted to Assistant Coach. In 2019, after one year in that role, he joined the St. Bonaventure staff as an Assistant Coach, and has been in that role since. So far in his time there, the Bonnies have won an Atlantic 10 championship, and Woodall has been named as the Atlantic 10 Assistant Coach of the Year by the Minority Coaches Association.

5 March 2011: Pittsburgh Panthers guard Travon Woodall (1) with a layup during the second half as the Pittsburgh Panthers win the Big East Regular Season Championship with a 60-50 victory against the Villanova Wildcats at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Ronald Ramon

Assistant Coach – Fordham University

Ramon was graduated Pitt in 2008 and tallied 1,096 points, 254 rebounds, 339 assists and 100 steals in his career with the Panthers. In his time in Oakland, he led the team to four NCAA Tournament appearances. Ramon concluded his 11-year playing career in 2019 after playing professionally in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela, also appearing in FIBA World Cups in 2014 and 2019, representing the Dominican Republic. In 2019, he joined Jeff Capel’s staff at Pitt as Assistant Director of Operations, and spent two seasons in that role. However, this offseason, he moved up the ranks and accepted an offer to become an Assistant Coach at Fordham in his hometown of The Bronx, New York.

Ricardo Greer 

Associate Head Coach – University of Dayton

Playing at Pitt from 1997-2001, Greer was one of the best scorers Pitt basketball has ever seen. After averaging 12.5 points per game in his first two seasons with the program, Greer took it up a notch, putting up scoring averages of 18.1 points per game and 16.6 points per game in his final two seasons, respectively. He also was named All-Big East in both of those seasons. The 6-foot-5 New York native scored over 1,700 points in his career before going on to play professionally overseas. Greer started his coaching career as Director of Player Development at UCF for two seasons, but then moved on to Dayton, where he was hired as an Assistant Coach in 2017. Just days ago on May 25, he was promoted once again to Associate Head Coach.

Orlando Antigua

Assistant Coach – University of Kentucky

A Dominican Republic native, Antigua grew up in the Bronx and played for St. Raymond’s in his high school career. He went on to play for the Panthers from 1991-95. He finished his Pitt career in the top 15 in three-point shots made, blocked shots, and three-point percentage. In addition to his on-the-court production, off the court, he was named by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as the Most Courageous Athlete in college basketball. Antigua has had a decorated college coaching career since, starting out with five years at Pitt. On the staff, Antigua was a part of five tournament teams at Pitt, but left in 2008 for a job under John Calipari at Memphis. After his time at Memphis, Antigua went on to coach at Kentucky as an assistant, winning a national championship in 2012. His next endeavors were becoming Head Coach at South Florida for two and a half years, and most recently serving as Assistant Coach at Illinois for four years. This offseason, he returned to Kentucky as Associate Coach.

Michael Lecak

Assistant Coach – University of California-Riverside

After spending one year at Division II Wheeling Jesuit, Lecak, a Pittsburgh native, came home to walk-on at Pitt. Playing under Jamie Dixon from 2012-2016, Lecak was a part of three NCAA tournament teams. After his playing career, he went on to join Dixon’s staff at TCU as a Graduate Assistant. In 2017, he was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations at UC-Riverside. After two seasons with the program, he was promoted to his current role of Assistant Coach.

Ashton Gibbs

Head Coach (Post Grad Team) – The Phelps School

From 2008-12, Gibbs was the face of the Pitt program. The Scotch Plains, New Jersey native started at guard and led the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Gibbs cemented himself as one of the best players in Pitt history after playing a smaller role in his freshman year, scoring 15.7 points per game over his last three years. After playing professionally for a few seasons, Gibbs began his coaching career as Director of Player Development at Duquesne. After two years on the staff for the Dukes, he recently accepted a position as the Head Coach of The Phelps School’s post grad team in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Mike Cook

Head Coach – Friends Central School

A 6-foot-4, 215-pound forward from Philadelphia, Cook played two seasons for Pitt after transferring in from East Carolina and started every game in a Panther uniform. In his time with the Panthers, he averaged 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game across 48 games. He played for Pitt from 2006-08, and was a part of two NCAA Tournament teams as well as the Big East Champions squad in 2008. Earlier this spring, Cook accepted an offer to become the Head Coach at Friends Central School, his alma mater, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Friends Central, which sits just outside of Philadelphia, is known for its basketball program, boasting a strong list of alumni including Amile Jefferson and DeAndre Hunter, who recently excelled in the ACC. 

Gilbert Brown

Assistant Coach – South Kent School

Brown spent five seasons at Pitt from after redshirting during his freshman year. In his career, he appeared in 129 games, averaging 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and shooting 46.3% from the field. He was a key piece on four straight NCAA Tournament squads. Brown averaged 10.7 points per game in his junior season, leading Pitt to a 31-5 season and an Elite Eight appearance in March. Last year, after retiring from playing ball, he joined the staff of his high school alma mater, South Kent School, as an Assistant Coach. There, he now shares the bench with his former coach, Raphael Chillious.

Jaron Brown

Head Coach – Woodford County High School

Brown played four seasons at Pitt, scoring over 1,200 total points and grabbing over 650 rebounds. The 2003-04 All-Big East selection averaged 11.7 points and 5.4 rebounds that year, 49% from the field. Brown, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, increased his scoring averages every year of his career, and started all but one game in his last three years with the program. Brown was a part of three NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen teams and was also on the 2004 All-Big East Tournament team. Since being hired in 2019, he is now the Head Coach at Woodford County High School, in Versailles, Kentucky.