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The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Andy Toole and Robert Morris from playing in this year's NCAA tournament.
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Robert Morris' Andy Toole ranks highly on ESPN's '40 under 40' coaches list

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Robert Morris' Andy Toole ranks highly on ESPN's '40 under 40' coaches list

Robert Morris’ dreams of playing in the 2020 NCAA tournament were dashed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Colonials coach is getting some national recognition for his decade of prosperity at the helm of the men’s basketball program.

ESPN dropped its ranking of the “40 Under 40” best coaches in college basketball Wednesday, and Andy Toole came in at No. 7. He barely made the cut too, as Toole will turn 40 on Sept. 11, 2020.

Toole took over at Robert Morris in 2010 and has since coached in 342 games over 10 seasons, earning a record of 188-154 (.550). That span included two regular-season Northeast Conference titles, two NEC tournament championships (most recently in March of this year) and a memorable 2013 upset of top seed Kentucky in the NIT, which the Post-Gazette ranked as the No. 1 signature moment of the 2010s in Pittsburgh college basketball.

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The rankings were compiled by ESPN college basketball writers Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello and John Gasaway and took every coach from all 32 Division I conferences into account. The final list was their best effort to “rank coaches according to both achievements and potential,” according to the article.

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“He’s widely recognized as the young coach who led Robert Morris to a win over Kentucky during the opening round of the NIT in 2013, but he also has recorded seven winning seasons over 10 years at the school,” Medcalf wrote of Toole. “He led his team to its second NEC tournament title in March and enhanced his standing as a candidate for bigger jobs.”

Coming in ahead of Toole were (in order) UNC Greensboro’s Wes Miller, Xavier’s Travis Steele, LSU’s Will Wade, Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton, Furman’s Bob Richey and Minnesota’s Richard Pitino. Florida assistant Jordan Mincy, Duke assistant Jon Scheyer and Louisville assistant Luke Murray rounded out the top 10.

ESPN also made note of a few coaches and assistants who narrowly missed the top 40, including recent Pitt Hall of Fame honoree and current Rutgers assistant Brandin Knight.

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Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxel222.

First Published: May 13, 2020, 9:36 p.m.

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The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Andy Toole and Robert Morris from playing in this year's NCAA tournament.  (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
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