After just one season with the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program, assistant coach Ryan Pannone appears as if he may be on the move again as he has been tabbed as a finalist for the Fresno State head coaching vacancy, according to Mike Rodak of 247Sports. With the March Madness tournament still going on and the team preparing for the Final Four, I doubt we hear an announcement from either side soon but it appears as if he is their top target.
Pannone spent the first part of his career bouncing around overseas as an assistant before getting his first big break with the New Orleans Pelicans. After less than a year there, Pannone took one look at Tuscaloosa and saw all of the opportunities that [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] assistants were getting and decided to follow that path.
Despite probably not being the most talented roster Alabama has ever had, it is their first-ever team to make a Final Four appearance. A large part of that success can be attributed to Oats as well as his entire coaching staff.
At only 39 years of age, Pannone is a hot young name in the coaching world and is the exact type of energy that is needed in this new name, image, likeness and transfer portal era. Especially when reviving a program like Fresno State that finished 12-21 a season ago.
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