ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has announced several hires and promotions within the basketball operations department, it was announced today by General Manager and Head of Basketball Operations Travis Schlenk.
Rod Higgins has been named as a College Scout, Brady Howe as Assistant Athletic Trainer, Adam Loiacono as Performance Therapist, Dan Martinez as Senior Director of Team Operations and Derek Pierce as Pro Player Personnel Scout; Daniel Bove has been promoted to Sports Scientist/Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, Scottie Parker to Head Athletic Trainer, Zach Peterson to Video Coordinator, Patrick St. Andrews to Assistant Coach and Daniel Starkman to Manager of Basketball Information and Scouting Coordinator.
Higgins, a longtime NBA player, executive, coach and scout, played 13 seasons with Chicago, Seattle, San Antonio, New Jersey, Golden State, Sacramento and Cleveland, before retiring in 1994. Higgins was an Assistant Coach with the Warriors from 1994-2000 before joining the Washington Wizards as Assistant General Manager. He returned to Golden State as General Manager, then spent 2007-14 with the Charlotte Bobcats, finishing as President of Basketball Operations.
Howe comes to the Hawks from the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League, where he served as Director of Athletic Performance. He was previously the club’s Strength & Conditioning Coach and Equipment Manager. Howe also worked with Idaho of the G League and at his alma mater, Weber State University, where he holds a Bachelor’s in Athletic Training. He also has a Master’s in Sports Conditioning and Performance from Southern Utah University.
For the last five years, Loiacono was with the New England Revolution (Major League Soccer/MLS), where he was Fitness Coach. He also has experience with Orlando City SC (MLS), worked at Excel Physical Therapy in Cranston, RI, and as an Assistant Soccer Coach at Johnson & Wales University. Loiacono holds a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from the University of Maine and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Springfield College.
Martinez spent the last 17 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, where he was most recently the team’s Senior Director of Public Relations. Prior to that, Martinez worked for the San Francisco Giants in media relations for four seasons. The Petaluma, CA native holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from University of California, Davis.
Most recently, Pierce was with the Minnesota Timberwolves as an advance, college and NBA personnel scout from 2009-17. He spent three seasons with the Washington Wizards as advance scout and two years with the Golden State Warriors in the same capacity. He also spent five years with the Indiana Pacers. Pierce has a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Michigan State University and a Master’s in Sports Administration from Florida State University.
Bove joined the Hawks last season after serving as a Graduate Assistant and Performance Laboratory Supervisor at University of South Florida from 2014-16. He was previously the Head Weightlifting Coach at Horsepower Athletics in Tampa, FL and a coach at Liberty Barbell in Philadelphia. Bove graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology, and holds a Master’s in Exercise Science from South Florida.
Parker, previously Atlanta’s Assistant Athletic Trainer, enters his fifth season with the team. He previously spent time with Fusionetics Sports Science, the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Ontario Warriors (indoor football). Parker is a graduate of University of Northwestern (MN) with a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology and a minor in Coaching. He earned his Master’s from California Baptist University in Athletic Training.
Peterson originally joined the Hawks in 2014-15 as a Seasonal Assistant, Basketball Operations. In 2015-16, he moved into a position as Assistant, Video. Last season, Peterson was elevated to Assistant Video Coordinator. The Chicago area native has a Bachelor’s in Advertising from Michigan State University, where he worked as a Student Manager for the Spartans’ basketball team his final two years.
St. Andrews was the Hawks’ Video Coordinator last season. He originally joined the organization in 2013 as a Seasonal Assistant, Basketball Operations, before moving to Assistant Video Coordinator in 2014-15. St. Andrews was also an Assistant Coach for the Dominican Republic National Team at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City. He was a two-year captain on the basketball team at Penn St.-Behrend, where he earned Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Economics and International Business, and a Master’s in Business Administration.
Starkman, who was the Hawks’ Manager, Basketball Operations and Information last season, joined the organization in 2015 as a summer seasonal assistant before being promoted to Coordinator, Basketball Operations for the 2015-16 campaign. He is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, while also serving as a student manager for the men’s basketball team from 2011-15.