Dan Ficke will begin his second year as assistant coach for the 2016-17 season

Men's Basketball 3/29/2016 12:00:00 AM

Ricardo Patton and Steve Snell Named Assistant Coaches

March 29, 2016

DENVER - Head coach Rodney Billups has announced that Ricardo Patton (Memphis, Tenn.) and Steve Snell (Radford, Va.) have been named assistant coaches for the University of Denver men's basketball team. Current assistant Dan Ficke (Denver, Colo.) will remain on Billups' staff.

Patton comes to DU having spent 11 seasons as the head coach for the University of Colorado and four seasons with Northern Illinois. Patton led the Buffaloes to six postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournament berths. The Buffaloes defeated Bobby Knight's Indiana team in the first round of the 1997 tournament before falling to a Dean Smith-led North Carolina team in the round of 32.

"Coach [Ricardo] Patton has been a huge mentor for me through this whole process of six years of coaching," Billups said. "He always told me if I ever got a head coaching job he would love to come with me. It gives him a chance to get back on the road and recruit, not only to teach and develop the student-athletes, but help me in the office with all his experience."

Before heading to Boulder, Patton served two seasons (1991-93) as an assistant to Frankie Allen at Tennessee State, where he was instrumental in recruiting future star, Carlos Rogers, the No. 10 pick in the 1994 NBA Draft. Prior to that, Patton was an assistant at Arkansas-Little Rock for one season in 1990-91, and Middle Tennessee State from 1988-90. Patton was a member of the coaching staffs at both Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee State when each won Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

Snell spent last season as an associate head coach at Santa Clara. A 24-year coaching veteran, Snell was also at Air Force for eight seasons, the final two years as associate head coach after spending two seasons as a member of the coaching staff at Louisiana-Monroe. He helped the Warhawks to the co-championship of the Sun Belt's West Division in 2006-07 with an 18-14 record, including a perfect 14-0 mark at home. Prior to coaching at ULM, Snell spent time at Tulane University, where he served as an assistant coach. During his four-year tenure with the Green Wave, Snell assisted in all aspects of the program.

"Coach [Steve] Snell comes from 20-plus years of coaching in this game. He is another important piece of this puzzle for me," Billups added. "Selfishly, those two guys coming here and being willing to help and grow this program and to see us succeed is really, really valuable for our student-athletes."

A native of Radford, Virginia, Snell served as an assistant at Marshall University for five seasons under head coach Greg White. In his time at Marshall, Snell helped the Herd to an 86-54 (.614) record.

Prior to his move to Marshall, Snell spent three years as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State University. He served the 1992-93 campaign at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and also spent two years at Wingate College and one season at Radford University. Before that, Snell was an assistant coach at Radford High School during the 1988-89 season.

Ficke will enter his second season with the Pioneers after coming over from Loyola Maryland. Prior to Loyola, Ficke spent three seasons at Wake Forest University. In 2012-13, Ficke served as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach/Director of Scouting and Recruiting. Prior to that, he was the program's Assistant Director of Operations from 2010-12.

"Coach [Dan] Ficke is a Denver guy," Billups said. "Dan is very connected with strong recruiting ties. He has coached at the highest level at Wake Forest. He was a student-athlete, so he gets it. I think it was really important for me to have someone like Dan here to stay."

The 6-6 forward played four seasons at Loyola (Md.). Ficke was a part of some of the most successful Division I teams at the university during his time with the Greyhounds from 2005-09. He was a member of teams that won a combined 64 games, including the 2007-08 team that won what was then a Division I school-record 19 contests. Ficke graduated in 2009 with his bachelor's in business administration and earned his M.B.A. in 2010.

The Colorado native grew up around the best in the game of basketball, following his dad, Bill, who was an NBA assistant coach and scout for the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and New Jersey Nets, coaching alongside Larry Brown and Doug Moe. Bill also played at Belmont Abbey College for legendary coach Al McGuire.

Ficke earned All-Colorado second-team and All-America honorable-mention honors on the prep level at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colo.

Patton and Snell will be replacing former assistant coaches John Fitzgerald and Nate Rohnert. Director of Basketball Operations Jon Jordan will not return after nine seasons with the Pioneers. The Director of Basketball Operations will be filled at a later date.