St. John's coaching news: Chris Mullin hires Matt Abdelmassih away from Iowa State

Chris Mullin is being introduced tomorrow as the St. John's Red Storm's newest head coach, but that hasn't stopped him from swiftly loading up his staff for the upcoming season.

News came out of Ames, Iowa today that Iowa State Cyclones assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih will be fleeing east to accept a similar position with the Red Storm. Abdelmassih, a former student manager with St. John's, had been the assistant coach alongside Fred Hoiberg since the 2010-11 season.

Abdelmassih announced the move on Twitter Tuesday afternoon:

Extremely sad but happy to move onto the next stage in my life #loveiowastateforever pic.twitter.com/7vncUcMhCD

— Matt Abdelmassih (@mabde33) March 31, 2015

The move is already getting rave reviews from college basketball insiders, such as Scout.com's Evan Daniels:

Scout's @EvanDaniels calls @mabde33 hire by Chris Mullin "tremendous," said it gives staff immediate credibility in area. #sjubb

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) March 31, 2015

Needless to say, it appears Mullin is off to a great start. We'll have coverage here on Big East Coast Bias of his press conference Wednesday afternoon, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.