Mike Magpayo is headed to the East Coast, becoming the head coach at Fordham after spending the last five seasons leading the UC Riverside program. Magpayo is originally from Southern California but spent seven years as an assistant at Columbia (2010-14) and Campbell (2014-17) earlier in his career.
“Mike Magpayo is one of the top coaches in college basketball and we’re excited that he will be joining us at Fordham,” said AD Charles Guthrie. “Mike has a passion for nurturing student-athletes and his data-driven analytics makes him the perfect fit for Fordham. His strategic approach to coaching and recruiting has been proven to be successful. We can’t wait for Mike and his family to get to Rose Hill.”
Magpayo went 89-63 during his tenure with the Highlanders, culminating in a trip to the NIT this year. It was the program’s first postseason appearance at the Division I level since moving up in 2001.
“What an exciting time to bring my wife, whom I met in New York City 12 years ago, and family back to the greatest city in the World at one of the premier universities in the country, Fordham University,” Magpayo said in a statement. “The excitement for this thrilling opportunity to lead Fordham Basketball is through the roof. I believe there is great potential in this program and I intend to maximize all of it going forward. The combination of New York City attitude and academic excellence will be on full display when talking about Fordham Basketball going forward.”
Fordham moved on from former head coach Keith Urgo earlier this month after three seasons. The Rams went 25-8 in his first year but won just 25 games combined over the last two. The Atlantic 10 program hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992 and has not won a conference title since 1994.