Iona did not take long to replace departed Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, turning to the breakout star of the NCAA Tournament.

Tobin Anderson has been rewarded for leading 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson into the second round with one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

FDU defeated Purdue, who had won the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament, in what Anderson described as "one of the most unbelievable stories of all".

Anderson had garnered attention even before that first-round game, telling the Knights after a play-in win: "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them. Let's go shock the world."

He and FDU delivered on that, although their run ended in the second round against Florida Atlantic, losing 78-70.

And that was the end of the road for Anderson at Fairleigh Dickinson as his appointment at Iona was confirmed on Tuesday.

The Gaels moved swiftly to name a new coach after Pitino left for St. John's this week.

"We are very excited to introduce Tobin Anderson as Iona University's men's basketball head coach," said Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski.

"We have long known him to be a fantastic coach and an even better person. Now, with his team's impressive run in the NCAA tournament, everyone paying attention to March Madness also knows this.

"We're delighted that he will be at the helm of our men's basketball programme."