Barry “Slice” Rohrssen has dedicated his career to the game of basketball, and has valued instilling life lessons with his players, mentoring them into mature and honorable young men. He reached the pinnacle of the sport when he helped guide the Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four in 2015.
The Brooklyn, N.Y. native, played in the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) at Xaverian High School and is a member of the school’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. Rohrssen attended St. Francis College Brooklyn and played for the Terriers from 1981–83. He graduated from the College with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management in 1983.
Rohrssen began his career as a college basketball assistant coach at his alma mater in 1993. From 1993–95, Rohrssen served on Ron Ganulin’s staff at St. Francis, where he worked alongside current Terriers’ head coach Glenn Braica, who was also an assistant at the time.
After his time at St. Francis, Rohrssen served as the director of operations at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas from 1995–99 under head coach Bill Bayno. During Rohrssen’s time at UNLV, the program experienced a resurgence as the Runnin’ Rebels captured the 1998 Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and advanced to postseason play in three of his four years.
Rohrssen played a vital role in Pittsburgh’s rise to prominence from 1999–2006 as an original member of Ben Howland’s staff. During a five-year period, he helped guide Pitt to a 133–33 overall record, a 59–21 BIG EAST regular season record, four BIG EAST Championships (three regular season), three NCAA Sweet 16 berths and five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. In addition, Pitt won its first-ever BIG EAST Tournament title in 2003. At Pitt, he served in three different capacities including the associate head coach under Jamie Dixon from 2004–06, assistant coach (2001–04), and director of operations (1999–2001).
On April 25, 2006, Rohrssen was named the 22nd men’s basketball head coach at Manhattan College. At Manhattan, he mentored seven all-conference players and seven 1,000-point scorers, including two of the top 10 scorers in program history. Rohrssen improved academic progress ratings at Manhattan as he graduated every player that stayed for four years and dramatically elevated the school’s basketball NCAA Academic Progress Rate.
Rohrssen then entered professional basketball, working for the Portland Trail Blazers organization in 2012–13 assisting their NBA Development League team. He made his return to Pitt in 2013–14, where he served as an assistant coach and helped lead the Panthers to a 26–10 record and NCAA Tournament berth.
In the 2014–15 season, Rohrssen was part of a historic run at Kentucky on Hall of Fame Coach John Calipari’s staff. Rohrssen and the Wildcats posted a 38–1 record and the program’s second-straight Final Four appearance. Kentucky is the only program in college basketball history to win 38 games in a season.
Most recently Rohrssen has been the men’s basketball color commentator for Columbia University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Rohrssen is an avid supporter of many charitable initiatives. He is a co-founder of the Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation and presently serves on its board of directors. He is a longtime supporter of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and contributor to the annual Dick Vitale Gala. During the summer of 2008, he traveled to Iraq and Kuwait with a select group of NCAA basketball coaches to visit American troops as part of a goodwill program “Operation Hardwood V,” sponsored by the USO and Armed Forces Entertainment. In 2009, Rohrssen was asked to take part in “Operation Hoop Talk” in Afghanistan. Both tours began in the nation’s capital to visit with wounded warriors at both Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Barry and his wife Kerry make their home in New York with son Rowan, their pride and joy.
