Ricardo Patton and Steve Snell are joining new Denver men’s basketball head coach Rodney Billups on the Pioneers bench next season.
Patton and Snell join current assistant Dan Ficke on the staff, Billups announced Tuesday.
Patton, 57, was head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes for 11 seasons and helmed Northern Illinois for four. He led the Buffs to two NCAA tournaments (1997 and 2003) during his tenure.
“Coach Patton has been a huge mentor for me through this whole process of six years of coaching,” Billups said in a news release. “He always told me if I ever got a head coaching job he would love to come with me.”
Snell was an associate head coach at Santa Clara last season. In 24 years as a coach, he also had stops at Air Force, Louisiana Monroe, Marshall and Tulane.
Patton and Snell take over for former assistants John Fitzgerald and Nath Rohnert. Jon Jordan, director of basketball operations, will also not return after nine seasons at DU. The position will be filled at a later date.
The Pioneers finished 16-15 in the 2015-16 season.
