Dalip Bhatia could have made a pile of money by now. Instead he traded in his balance sheets for a clipboard, and now the North Brunswick High School graduate is headed to NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach on the Saint Peter’s College men’s basketball team.

“I don’t consider it a job,” the 28-year-old Bhatia said last week. “It’s what I love to do. It’s my passion. I love waking up every morning and going to work.”

This week, that work is preparing for an opening-round game Friday against Purdue in Chicago.

“We are all very excited,” Bhatia said. “Most of us have never been to an NCAA Tournament game. We’re just savoring the moment. The slogan for our team all year has been, ‘live in the moment.’”

What a year it’s been. The Peacocks (20-13) won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament to earn the program’s first Big Dance berth since 1995. The key has been defense. Saint Peter’s yields just 59.9 points per game, which ranks 12 th in the nation. In five years on the job head coach John Dunne has imbued his program with that mindset. Junior Brandon Hall, a ColoniaHigh School graduate, has played a key role as the backup point guard.

“It’s been tremendous,” Bhatia said. “But it hasn’t always been easy.”

Dunne’s team took a beating his first year, 2006-07. At that time Bhatia was an assistant at North Brunswick, helping out his old coach Ed Breheney. A 5-foot-4 point guard for the Raiders from 1997-2000, he rejoined the program as a volunteer assistant for two years after graduating Rutgers University. By day he worked as an accountant for Deloitte.

“That’s where my passion for coaching began,” Bhatia said. “I got the itch. I just wanted to be around the game.”

Watching Breheney convinced him to get into coaching full-time.

“I really looked up to Ed as someone who cared deeply about his players,” Bhatia said. “He’s had such a positive impact on my life.”

In 2007-08 he worked at Kean University as an assistant under Rob Kurzinsky, who had been a member of Dunne’s staff. When an administrative spot a Saint Peter’s opened, Kurzinsky put in a word for Bhatia.

“I never even interviewed with John,” Bhatia said. “Rob said, ‘Monday you’re going to Saint Peter’s.’”

He served in an operations role for two years and got promoted to full assistant in 2010 after John Morton and James Wallace left. Saint Peter’s cites him as “the first known Division I men’s basketball coach of Indian descent.” It’s a source of pride for Bhatia and his family.

“My mom passed away from cancer when I was 21. She had a huge influence on my life,” Bhatia said. “Most Indian parents want their kid to grow up as lawyers, doctors, scientists, engineers. As long as I worked hard my mom supported whatever I wanted to do.”

He wanted to be a basketball coach, and this week Bhatia will be coaching on the biggest stage there is. You can’t put a price tag on that.

NOTE: Rutgers' hiring of Bhatia was first reported by SNY.

The Hartford Courant reports that Memphis is the likely host of the inaugural AAC Tourney. HH SAYS: From a fan turnout perspective, it seems like a bad choice compared to Hartford or the Palestra. But the Palestra may lack the infrastructure for a major media event and with the women’s tourney going to Mohegan Sun, the league probably wanted a different state for the men.

SI.com looks at how many NCAA Tourney bids the AAC and Big East might get next year, and how that effects the rest of the field.

Congrats to Rutgers seniors Dane Miller and Austin Johnson for graduating last week. Nice photo here of the two in caps and gowns courtesy of @RutgersMBB

Off topic, but of interest to Seton Hall fans: Montgomery HS grads playing key roles in Pirate pitching rotation. Postscript: The Hall dropped its Big East Tourney opener to Notre Dame Wednesday and face an elimination game vs. St. John’s Thursday. One would think they have a decent shot at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.

Interesting essay by a college coach defining just who is a “gym rat.”

Lucas told ESPN.com Monday that the former Rutgers coach is receiving anger management counseling and working with former college players who are going through Lucas’ pre-NBA draft camp.

“He’s doing great,” Lucas told ESPN.com. “His attitude has been phenomenal and our kids live his intensity and his passion for the game. He’s happy to be having this chance to give back a little bit.”

Rice’s stay is expected to last about a month, until mid-June.

A former NBA star who battled substance abuse, Lucas is known as a “hoops whisperer” of sorts, helping athletes and coaches cope with drug and alcohol addiction and other issues though his Wellness and Aftercare Program. His seal of approval should help Rice’s reputation immensely within college basketball circles. Rice was fired by Rutgers last month after ESPN aired a video montage of him mistreating players during practices.

The Philadelphia Inquirer had a sit-down with Phil Martelli to discuss his various travails of late, including the resignation of son Jimmy Martelli and protégé Mike Rice at Rutgers: Has to make amends

Good analytics piece by Brendan Prunty on the downward trend of hiring minority head coaches in college men’s basketball: Typecast as recruiting assistants

As seen in this case at St. Louis, coaches run off players all the time, but this time the player is pushing back: Standing up to a lousy practice

In case you missed it, here is my wide-ranging Q&A with new Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan: From sweeping floors to offensive philosophy

For starters, the 58-year-old Jordan navigated a roller-coaster of roster changes. Five players decided to transfer and two recruits committed elsewhere. He also re-recruited two players and signed three new ones. He filled out a staff, did scores of media interviews, attended Big Ten meetings, got his head shaved for a Rutgers baseball charity and had to explain why he never earned his college degree.

On Wednesday Jordan met his boss, new athletics director Julie Hermann. On Thursday he sat down for a wide-ranging interview and discussed his first impressions of the job, his thoughts on recruiting and coaching, and his goal to “build a culture of togetherness and toughness.”

Q. What have the past four weeks been like for you, since you got the job?

A. Our first priority was to talk to the guys who were thinking about leaving. We did our best, and some guys decided to leave. We’re happy for them and we’re happy for us. The first thing I told them was, ‘You’re either 100 percent in or you’re out. If you’re 50-50 you might as well leave. You can’t come back in another month or three games into the season and say, ‘I should have left.’”

“It was a whirlwind, but it’s been a whirlwind for three years. For three years (since being fired as head coach of the 76ers) I didn’t sink my teeth into basketball the way I wanted to. This came around and it was a new challenge. I know college recruiting is different than the NBA, but I wanted something I could sink my teeth into. I’m prepared for the challenge.”

“One year when I was out (of the NBA) I coached the freshman team at my high school, my son’s eighth grade team and I coached D.C. Assault’s 17-and-under (AAU team). I did everything from carrying the balls into the gym to sweeping the floors. It was fun---it was probably one of the most rewarding times I had in basketball. But I always wanted to coach Rutgers. It had to be the right situation. This is the right situation, as ironic as it sounds.”

Q. The RAC was going up when you were leaving Rutgers. What do you think of its condition and the proposed renovation?

A. When I look at the RAC, you know what I see? I see a really nice floor and two baskets. That’s where my guys are going to play. Eventually when we win, the donors will be excited about helping out and improving the facilities. When Julie (Hermann) and I talked I said, ‘Julie, my strengths are I’m patient, I’m low maintenance and I’m open-minded.’ Maybe those are some of my faults, too. I’m not raising my fist and saying, ‘I need this, I need that.’ I’m not like that.”

Q. How is your re-introduction to recruiting going?

A. I love it. I got a really nice response. I had three head-coaching jobs in the NBA, but I never got a response like this with people who wanted to join my staff. It was 10 times over all the responses in the NBA. This is attractive. It’s the Big Ten, New York media, possible upgrades in the facility. I was at the Big Ten meetings (last week). The Big Ten is trying to come to our region to recruit. I told the other coaches, ‘Look guys, we’re putting a stake in our region and we’re going to dominate our region.’”

Q. You have nine scholarship players. How many more do you need to bring in for next season?

A. We have a walk-on who we’ll award a scholarship to, Logan Kelley. That will be 10. We’re still beating the bushes but we’re going to be selective. We’re not taking a kid who wants to come but is not good enough. We still have some possibilities out there. But we don’t know right now. We’re being selective about it.”

Q. What do you think of your current roster?

A. I like that we’re athletic and we have good length. We were hoping to keep a couple more guys, but that’s what happens. Maybe we have to do some things to compensate for what we don’t have. Jared Jeffries played two positions for me in Washington. He was a 6-11 forward but he played the two and it helped us. Maybe we have to do some things like that. I know we’re not going to lack toughness. We’re not going to lack athleticism. We may lack a shooter, we may lack a pure scorer, we may lack a protector at the rim although Wally (Judge) is pretty big and pretty athletic. But we won’t be short in the big-heart department. We’ve got some pretty tough guys.”

Q. Regarding the issue that came to light last week, that you don’t have your college degree, how do you plan to address that going forward?

A. I’ve always wanted to get my degree. That’s why I retired from the NBA. I was working toward that and I’m still going to work toward it. I’ve always had plans to finish school and get my degree.”

Q. Just a curious aside, what was it like to coach Kobe Bryant?

A. Kobe is the most focused player I’ve ever been around. He’s quiet, he studies the game, he hardly ever smiles. He is one of the most team-oriented superstars I’ve seen. And he takes care of his body to the umpteenth degree. I didn’t say much to Kobe. He sort of coaches himself. In fact, I have a call coming from Kobe pretty soon to talk about him branding us a little bit with some Kobe stuff. He’s Nike. It’s something we’re both interested in.”

Q. Much has been made of your Princeton-style principles. What is your offensive philosophy?

A. I’ve always liked the shell of two guards, two forwards and a center. I don’t think you should always say, ‘I’m a point guard,’ or ‘I’m a shooting guard.’ Does that mean you shoot all the time or he has to pass all the time? Forwards, you attack the defense better when two guys can do the same things, not when the three always goes into isolation or the four always posts up.”

“With Myles (Mack) and D’Von (Campbell), I’m not playing with two point guards. I’m playing with two guards. I think the players like the fact that they don’t have to always shoulder the responsibility of quarterbacking the team. Now how does basketball work? The people who have a knack for doing something will do it more. So if D’Von has a knack for running the offense, he’ll do it more.”

Q. What do you want to get out of this first year?

A. Exceed expectations. People may sell us short. How do you exceed expectations? There’s an old saying, ‘You play harder, longer than your opponent.’ If we can see growth at the defensive end, that’s important. You want to see guys talking to each other the right way, communicating. You want to see our guys helping each other. If someone makes a play, you’re happy for him. I want to build a culture of togetherness and toughness.”

Q. How excited are you for this challenge?

A. You can tell I’m excited, just talking about it. I haven’t talked basketball in a long time. It’s all been, ‘Who are we going to call today?’ It is really exciting. At the Big Ten meeting, a couple of coaches said, ‘You mean to tell me you came down here (to the college ranks) for this?’ I said, ‘I can’t wait.’ It’s a great challenge. I didn’t do this to get another job. I’m doing this to be the best I can be at it. Obviously I’m not looking for any other job. For me, this is it.”

“I said, ‘Julie, I just want to win; I just want to do my part,’” Jordan said on Thursday. “I think she liked that. I wasn’t asking for anything.”

Jordan just wanted to get a read on his new boss, and that read was thoroughly positive.

“We had a wonderful conversation, maybe 45 minutes to an hour,” Jordan said. “She was enlightening, enthusiastic. She has vision. She understands the importance of facilities.”

Though Hermann comes to Rutgers from basketball-rich Louisville, where she helped run one of the nation’s premier athletic departments, Jordan said they did not discuss the Cardinals’ hardwood achievements.

“Our conversation was just trying to feel what her principles are, her concepts of being with so many different coaches and that sort of thing,” Jordan said. “Not necessarily Louisville’s success or the arena they play in. It wasn’t about that. It was about how we look each other in the eye and feel about each other.”

On another front, Jordan’s roster continued to take shape Thursday as Rutgers announced the signings of forward Junior Etou and guard Kerwin Okoro.

Etou, who signed a National Letter of Intent, averaged 14.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a senior this past season at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Va. Ranked 139th in his class by Rivals, Etou is a native of the Republic of Congo and is the cousin of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka.

Okoro is transferring from Iowa State after playing sparingly as a freshman due to the deaths of his father and older brother. A former star at New York City power St. Raymond, he is expected to apply for a hardship waiver from the NCAA, which would make him eligible next season.

“We are very excited to add these talented young men to our program,” Jordan said in a statement. “Kerwin is a competitive playmaker who brings toughness to the floor. Junior is a skilled and team-oriented player who rebounds and defends with tenacity. Both love to play the game.”

Jordan also said freshman Logan Kelley, a walk-on guard, will be elevated to scholarship status for next season---a practice not uncommon for shorthanded teams. Rutgers made a similar one-year arrangement for guard Mike Kuhn a few seasons back. Kelley, a former Governor Livingston High School standout, will be Rutgers’ 10th scholarship player for 2013-14.

NBA’S TRIGGS TO JOIN RU AS ASSISTANT

Kyle Triggs, who worked with Eddie Jordan on the staff of the Los Angeles Lakers, will fill the assistant coach vacancy on the Rutgers men’s basketball staff, two sources close to the situation said Thursday.

Triggs served in the capacity of assistant to the head coach during Mike Brown’s tenure. Like Jordan, who was an assistant under Brown, Triggs was kept on staff when Mike D’Antoni took over six games into this past season. A West Virginia graduate and team manager there, he previously served as a Division II assistant.

Jordan indicated during his introductory press conference last month that he was interested in adding some NBA flavor to his staff after inheriting established college recruiters David Cox and Van Macon from former Rutgers coach Mike Rice.

JORDAN'S BIO NEVER SAID 'GRADUATE'

CBS Sportsline obtained the bio Jordan submitted to Rutgers in lieu of a resume, and it refers to the school as his "alma mater" but made no references to graduating. In other words, the degree controversy is in the rear view mirror. Read the document for yourself, courtesy of CBS Sports

Linden High School coach Phil Colicchio said “there must be 50 schools that jumped in the picture” over the past year for Moore, a smooth-shooting, 6-foot-8 diesel whose stock soared after he dominated the state tournament, leading Linden to the Group IV championship game in March.

But Seton Hall was in with Moore early, and that helps.

“Seton Hall has done as good a job with him as anybody. I would say right now Seton Hall and Cincinnati are 1 and 1A,” Colicchio said. “Sha (Holloway) and Kevin Willard have done a fantastic job not only seeing him, but (saying) how much they want him and how important he is to their program. They’re going after him with the (stay in) Jersey stuff. They’ve done more than they have to do.”

Still, with Marquette, Florida and Duke inquiring and Kansas and Georgetown in the mix, the picture is crowded.

“Every tournament he plays in, I get five more calls,” Colicchio said.

Moore has been viewed as a versatile talent with huge upside since he walked through Linden’s doors as a freshman. But over the past year he has answered every critique, shedding weight and sculpting his body, banging inside as well as spotting up outside, getting teammates involved and performing more consistently game to game. .

“It’s all coming together for him. Basketball, school-wise, he’s coming out of his shell,” Colicchio said. “It’s pretty cool to watch how he’s grown up. With the leadership role he’s taken on, he’s starting to get it.”

There is still a ways to go in Moore’s recruitment, but Colicchio said he would like to see it wrapped up before the 2013-14 high school season starts next November.

“He’s still up in the air. There are schools that have been there from the beginning like Cincinnati and Seton Hall and Temple, but he really has no preference for area, at least none that he’s telling me or anybody else,” Colicchio said. “I’m trying to get him to narrow it down but he hasn’t really narrowed it down. Obviously it’s up to him and his family.”

Until he decides, Moore should be one of Jersey’s most-watched players on the summer circuit.

“He’s made a commitment,” Colicchio said. “He’s changed his game from being a chubby kid who shots threes and can score points to a kid who’s a total player.”

Rutgers’ new athletics director comes from a school with perhaps the best basketball facilities in America, a point she was not shy about raising during her introductory press conference.

“We’ve been building for 15 years and I’ve been in on every part from the fundraising end to designs of buildings,” Julie Hermann said, referring to her tenure at Louisville.

No one is expecting Hermann to duplicate Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center, a $238 million palace that includes seven elevators, 69 concession stands and a 2,500 square foot team store, not to mention a $15 million practice facility. But one of her most pressing priorities will be the decaying Louis Brown Athletic Center, which was in the early stages of a $50 million facelift under the direction of ousted athletics director Tim Pernetti.

“Very committed,” she said when asked about the continuation of the project. “I come from the Yum Center. Very committed to all facilities and really nice basketball facilities.”

There is much to be done. Known as a strong fundraiser and well-regarded by high-end donors, Pernetti had raised about a third of the capital. A design was unveiled in February and it included much-needed practice facilities for men’s and women’s basketball. Right now both programs practice on their game floor at the RAC, something virtually unheard of among high-majors.

A video scoreboard and a new sound system are expected to be installed this summer, but beyond that, the project’s status is in limbo. On Wednesday Hermann said she is eager to inspect the design plans and professed affection for the building aspect of athletics administration.

“The Yum Center was a pretty massive project for us. Aside from design and build, all the political parties that we were involved with, it was a huge hot potato in our community,” Hermann said, adding that she has “a secret love of architecture” and that she drew up and submitted her own plans for some of Louisville’s facilities.

Impressive as that may be, the RAC focus is squarely on fundraising at this point. Rutgers president Robert Barchi made it clear on multiple occasions over the past six weeks that he wants to avoid an arms race with future Big Ten competitors in terms of athletics spending.

To that end, on Wednesday Hermann stressed a facility fundraising philosophy in which “those dollars service as many student-athletes, as many coaches and as many constituencies as you can, to make sure you are using those dollars wisely.”

New Rutgers men’s basketball coach Eddie Jordan, who stands the most to gain from a renovated RAC, issued a statement Wednesday praising his new boss’ vision.

“I really enjoyed my meeting with Julie,” Jordan said. “She has a tremendous vision for Rutgers Athletics. Great things are ahead for the Scarlet Knights. I look forward to working with Julie as we make the transition to the Big Ten, the nation’s best conference.”

From a basketball standpoint, Hermann comes from royalty. Here are three items she must address immediately:

1. Assessing what’s next for the RAC. Can Tim Pernetti’s $50 million renovation plans be carried out in full, or will it need to be scaled back or further piecemealed? Right now the scoreboard and sound system are set to be replaced this summer. Beyond that, much more fundraising needs to be done, and this under a president (Barchi) who has made it clear he won’t be providing assistance. Coming from Louisville, which might have the best basketball facilities in the country, Hermann surely understands the importance of an upgrade.

2. Reaching out to donors. Louisville’s men’s hoops program practically printed money. At Rutgers she is dealing with a substantially smaller donor base, and an angry one at that after Pernetti’s ouster. Her approach here is critical.

3. C. Vivian Stringer’s contract. She is entering a “lame-duck” year. Pernetti was in the process of negotiating a new deal much more in line with common sense. No easy task, from what we are told. This will be a good test of Hermann’s wherewithal, because Stringer’s program bleeds money and the department could use the savings.

“We are very excited to welcome D’Von into our program,” Jordan said in a statement. “He’s a quality young man who will be an asset to our backcourt. He’s quick, competitive and has experience.”

Campbell, a 6-0 native of Arlington, Tex., averaged 12.1 points and 4.0 assists at JUCO power Hutchinson (Ks.) this past winter. Prior to that, he was a reserve at UTEP as a freshman. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Campbell’s presence should allow talented combo guard Myles Mack to play off the ball as needed. Rutgers still has four open scholarships for next season. The spring signing period ends Wednesday.