The Canisius basketball community was shaken this morning with the shocking news that head coach Jim Baron would be retiring. Baron leaves after a 4 year stint as the head coach of the Golden Griffins. 

The move comes at a strange time, but it appears that Baron is leaving for personal reasons. One source told ESPN that Baron wants to spend more time with his 2 sons, Jimmy and Billy, who play professional basketball in Belgium. 

In his 4 years at Canisius, Baron had a 73-59 record, reaching postseason tournaments in 3 out of 4 seasons. Before his time with the Golden Griffins, Baron was the longtime head coach at St. Bonaventure and University of Rhode Island, spending 9 years with the Bonnies and 11 years at Rhode Island. He was a 4x recipient of the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award. Baron also spent time as the head coach of St. Francis (PA). 

The Golden Griffins must look to regroup. At this point, most incoming players have signed their letters of intent, but the new regime will need to hold onto these players. In these circumstances, teams tend to hire from within in order to maintain program continuity.