Northern Illinois is set to name Arizona State Associate Head Coach Rashon Burno as its next head basketball coach, according to multiple sources.
Burno, who starred at DePaul two decades ago, will replace Mark Montgomery, who was fired in January after going 124-170 in 10 seasons.
A veteran and established assistant coach, Burno has been rising through the college coaching ranks and has spent the past six seasons as Bobby Hurley’s assistant at Arizona State. He was given the associate head coach tag in 2016.
He spent three seasons on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida, where he was part of a Final Four team in 2014.
While Arizona State has struggled this season with a 10-12 record, Burno has been part of a resurgent Sun Devils program over the past six years. Arizona State went to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2018 and 2019. Last season the Sun Devils were likely headed to a third straight tournament before Covid canceled the postseason.
Known for his recruiting prowess, Burno helped Arizona State to a top 10 recruiting class in the country in 2020, which included Burno being the lead recruiter on a pair of five-star recruits: Joshua Christopher and Marcus Bagley.
Burno also spearheaded top 20 national classes in 2018 and 2019 that included local star Alonzo Verge, who was the 2017 Sun-Times Player of the Year while at Thornton.
Burno began his basketball coaching career in 2007 as the head coach at Marmion in Aurora.
As a player, Burno played his high school basketball for legendary coach Bob Hurley, Sr. at national powerhouse St. Anthony High School in Jersey City in the 1990s.
Burno was then a part of DePaul coach Pat Kennedy’s heralded recruiting class in 1998 that included Burno, Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons and Lance Williams. He was a three-year captain for the Blue Demons and was the starting point guard of DePaul’s 2000 NCAA Tournament team.
He takes over a program that wrapped up its season Friday night with a win over Central Michigan but finished just 3-16 overall and 2-12 in the Mid-American Conference.
