Griffs name Baron Head Coach

Buffalo, NY - It's a return to Western New York for Jim Baron.

The longtime St Bonaventure basketball player and coach is returning to the area, as the new Head Coach of Canisius College basketball.

The school made the announcement official Monday afternoon.  Baron will be introduced at a news conference Tuesday.

The 58-year old veteran coach was fired last month after 11-seasons at the University of Rhode Island. The Rams won only 7-games last season, but he went 184-166 in his tenure at the Kingston, Rhode Island school.

Baron spent nine years as the Head Coach at St Bonaventure, and he led the Bonnies to the NCAA Tournament in 2000.  He was also head coach at St Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, and took that team to the  NCAA Tournament in 1991.

Baron replaces Tom Parrotta at Canisius.  Parrotta was fired two days after Canisius season ended with a loss in the MAAC Tournament.  The Griffs went 5-25 last season.

Baron also played at St Bonaventure and was captain of the 1977 NIT Championship team. 

"In naming Jim to this position,"  Canisius Athletic Director Bill Maher said Monday, "we have hired a man who has a proven track record of building successful basketball programs an developing young men."