Rutgers’ long-anticipated General Manager hire for Men’s and Women’s basketball has been made. According to Brian Fonseca of NJ.com, they have hired St. Joe’s General Manager Rob Sullivan to fill that
role.
Sullivan took over as General Manager at Saint Joe’s in August of 2023, after serving as Saint Joe’s director of Basketball operations for a decade. He also served as the senior associate athletic director for external affairs for a time. In between his jobs at the university, he spent time working for Cornerstone Management’s Basketball Division. Cornerstone Management is a sports and entertainment agency where Sullivan was responsible for “recruiting, advising, sports marketing, basketball skill development, and overseeing the off-season training programs” for all of its clients, according to Fonseca.
Before stepping into the sports management side of the business, Sullivan played as a guard on Saint Joe’s Basketball team from 2003-2006. He played alongside Delonte West and Jameer Nelson on a 03-’04 team that went to the Elite 8.
The university posted a job listing in September that detailed all of the responsibilities that would be placed on the General Manager they hire. According to the listing, the GM will manage all aspects of the recruiting process, serving as the primary point of contact for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities within NCAA guidelines, and creating innovative recruiting communications through social media, print, and video platforms. The GM will also serve as a strategic and operational partner for the Rutgers basketball programs, as well as manage player programs, support fundraising efforts, and strengthen the programs’ relationship with donors, alumni, and community stakeholders.
Some other responsibilities the job will have include supporting recruiting, NIL/brand management, program development, and stakeholder engagement, combining competitive intelligence, athlete brand building, donor cultivation, community relations, and partnership management to sustain Rutgers’ standing as a premier basketball program. They will also serve as a liaison with NIL collectives, while overseeing transfer portal evaluations and establishing/maintaining relationships with recruits, current student-athletes, alumni, and professional players.
The university interviewed candidates with a wide variety of backgrounds, including a few NBA G League administrators, before deciding to hire Sullivan.
Rutgers Men’s Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell has been pushing Rutgers administration to hire a Basketball GM for a while now. With less than a week to go until the season starts, it appears both he and Women’s Basketball Head Coach Coquese Washington will finally be getting some help on that front.
