Northern Illinois has hired Arizona State assistant Rashon Burno as its next head coach, the school announced on Saturday.
Burno replaces Mark Montgomery, who was fired back in January after a 1-7 start.
“When we started this process, it was about the right fit and matching up with our core values at NIU,” Director of Athletics Sean Frazier said in a statement. “Rashon Burno brings significant experience within Illinois, Chicagoland and other basketball powerhouse regions. This is vital in growing the NIU basketball brand.”
Burno joined Bobby Hurley’s staff at Arizona State in 2015 before being promoted to associate head coach in 2016. Prior to moving to Tempe, Burno had a very short stint at Nebraska following three seasons under Billy Donovan at Florida. He also spent time at Manhattan and Towson.
Burno has strong ties to Chicago, dating back to his playing career at DePaul — where he led the Blue Demons to one NCAA tournament — and his first coaching job at Marmion Academy outside of Chicago.
Burno will be formally introduced at a news conference on Monday.