Bobby Gonzalez

Robert P. Gonzalez (born March 18, 1963) is an assistant men's basketball coach at Mississippi Valley State University. Gonzalez was previously a scout for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association and head coach at Manhattan College and Seton Hall University. He is well known for leading the Jaspers to two NCAA tournaments and the second NCAA tournament win in school history.

Gonzalez had previously been an assistant under Pete Gillen at Xavier, Providence and Virginia, serving as one of Gillen's top recruiters.

Early life and education A native of Binghamton, New York, Gonzalez graduated from Buffalo State College in 1986.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1986–1999) Gonzalez began his career as an assistant at Broome Community College in the 1986–87 season then moved up to the NCAA Division I level as an assistant at Binghamton in 1987–88. From 1988 to 1991, Gonzalez was an assistant at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School in The Bronx and coached AAU teams as well. In the 1992–93 school year, Gonzalez was head coach at Rice High School in Manhattan.

Gonzalez later was an assistant under Pete Gillen for six seasons, first at Xavier in the 1993–94 season, then at Providence from 1994 to 1998, and finally at Virginia in the 1998–99 season.

Gonzalez led the 2009–10 Pirates to postseason play for the first time in four years, with a berth in the NIT. Six minutes into the Pirates' first-round matchup with Texas Tech, forward Herb Pope knocked Texas Tech's Darko Cohadarevic to the floor with a punch to the groin. After officials reviewed the play on the replay monitor, Pope was ejected from the game, and Seton Hall subsequently lost 87–69.

The next day on March 17, 2010, Seton Hall fired Gonzalez. Despite the Pirates' on-court improvement, school officials did not believe that he was a good representative for Seton Hall. According to The Star-Ledger, Seton Hall University School of Law dean Patrick Hobbs, who oversaw the athletic department at the time, recommended Gonzalez's firing on the weekend before the NIT. In a statement released after Gonzalez' ouster, Hobbs said that Seton Hall had "core expectations" for how coaches and players conduct themselves.

A month after his firing, Gonzalez sued Seton Hall for wrongful termination, seeking to be paid for the last two years of his contract. The suit was settled in August 2010; terms were not disclosed.

After Seton Hall (2010–present) Since leaving Seton Hall, Gonzalez has been a scout for NBA teams, motivational speaker, basketball analyst on TV and radio, and consultant.

Gonzalez was the assistant coach of BC Nevėžis of Lithuanian Basketball League for the 2020-21 season.

In 2021, Gonzalez joined the Detroit Pistons as a scout.

USA Basketball Gonzalez was an assistant coach with the 2005 USA Basketball World University Games Team that won a gold medal in Turkey. He was also a court coach for the 2002 USA Junior National Team Trials.

Hall of Fame In 2023, Gonzalez was inducted into the Greater Binghamton (New York) Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 2026, Gonzalez was inducted into both the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame as well as the Manhattan University athletics Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record