Report: Chillious to Washington. Villanova posts employment ad, seeking an assistant men's basketball coach

On Monday, Villanova posted an advertisement seeking an assistant Men's basketball coach. The opportunity is for a full-time assistant to the head coach, Jay Wright, with responsibilities including, "assisting the Head Coach in all aspects of the program."

The NCAA rules allow each team to employ three official Assistant coaches (Army, Navy and Air Force get to have four, since one is active-duty Military), but that isn't the end of the story when it comes to a Division I basketball bench. At Villanova, there is an Associate Head Coach, two Assistant Coaches, a Special Assistant to the Head Coach, a Director of Operations, a Video Coordinator, and a Student Athlete Development Assistant, in addition to the Head Coach, trainer and Strength Coach.

The possibilities for titles on a staff and suits on a bench are endless, however, only four "true" coaches can be designated.

Does the hiring of a new assistant coach mean that someone is on their way out of the program? Perhaps. We know that Raphael Chillious was a candidate for the head coaching gig at Loyola (Md.). This morning, Jon Rothstein noted on Twitter that Chillious would be returning to Seattle to an assistant coach position under Lorenzo Romar at the University of Washington. Chillious came to the Main Line a year ago from the Emerald City after spending three seasons with Romar and the Huskies.

There are no current rumors floating about a Villanova assistant leaving, which makes this ad a curious one. The posting of it would suggest that there was, however an opening for someone with that title.

The ad itself lists a recruitment type of "internal candidates only," which would suggest that the new assistant men's basketball coach would be someone already on staff or working for the athletic department.

The current basketball staff, according to Villanova.com is as follows:

Jay Wright - Head Coach
Billy Lange - Associate Head Coach
Raphael Chillious - Assistant Coach
Baker Dunleavy - Assistant Coach
Jason Donnelly - Special Assistant to the Head Coach
Arleshia Davidson - Director of Operations
George Halcovage - Video Coordinator
Jeff Pierce - Head Athletic Trainer
John Shackelton - Strength Coach
Curtis Sumpter - Student Athlete Development Assistant

The bolded names are the likely candidates to be considered for a change in title. Becoming an official assistant coach would allow these candidates to recruit for the program off-campus and otherwise have an expanded role in practices and on game-days.

The listing closes on Friday, so it should not be long before we are hearing about whatever is going on with the men's basketball bench at Villanova.