Northern Illinois is in search of a new men’s basketball coach after Rashon Burno resigned Saturday.
Burno went 48-106 over five seasons, and the Huskies never won more than 13 games in a season with him at the helm. They finished 9-21 this season, losing their regular-season finale to Akron 94-55 to end with a 4-14 record in their final season in the Mid-American Conference. They didn’t make the MAC Tournament.
The Huskies will move to the Horizon League in most sports next season, while football joins the Mountain West.
NIU announced it hired CSA Search & Consulting to head up its national search for the next coach. Executive associate athletic director Courtney Vinson, the men’s basketball administrator, will lead the program until a new coach is hired.
Before NIU, Burno, a former DePaul player, was an assistant at multiple college stops, including Arizona State and Florida, and started his coaching career at Marmion Academy in Aurora. Athletic director Sean T. Frazier thanked Burno in a statement.
“Under his leadership, our men’s basketball program has excelled academically, and we appreciate the commitment to our student-athletes and wish him all the best going forward,” Frazier said.
Burno is the second NIU coach to leave in less than a month. On Feb. 18, football coach Thomas Hammock announced he was leaving after seven seasons to return to the NFL. Frazier promoted defensive coordinator Rob Harley to interim football coach.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/07/northern-illinois-rashon-burno-resigns/