New York native and long-time Division I assistant coach Edgar De La Rosa enters his fourth season as a member of the Manhattan men's basketball staff. De La Rosa assists in the development of guards and perimeter players. His other duties include recruiting and scouting opponents.
Off the court, De La Rosa helps coordinate the program's Alumni and Development Office events. In addition, he serves as the liaison with NCAA and conference administrators.
De La Rosa has over 20 years of coaching experience, including 18 at the collegiate level. In his previous stint at Rutgers from 2004-06, De La Rosa served as the program's director of basketball operations.
Prior to his tenure with the Scarlet Knights, De La Rosa split 10 seasons between Fordham and Stony Brook as an assistant under head coach Nick Macarchuk.
De La Rosa began his college coaching career at New York University in 1989 where he helped guide the Violets to five consecutive winning seasons and three NCAA Division III appearances under head coach Joe Nesci. In 1993-94, De La Rosa mentored a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Championship game. In his final two seasons (1992-93 & 1993-94), NYU was named University Athletic Association (UAA) 'Coaching Staff of the Year'.
De La Rosa's basketball experience extends to the international level as he has been involved with the Dominican Republic National team as both a player and coach dating back to the early 1980's. As an assistant coach, De La Rosa helped lead the Dominican team to silver (2003) and bronze (2008) medals at the Centrobasket Tournament. In 2003, his squad advanced to championship contest of the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In his time working with the national team, De La Rosa has mentored Manhattan's all-time leading scorer Luis Flores '04 and NBA players Al Horford and Francisco Garcia. As a player, he competed in various international competitions, including the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela.
From 1995-99, De La Rosa served as the head coach for the New York City team at the Empire State Games. In 1998 and 1999 he guided New York City to back-to-back gold medals, while coaching future NBA players Ron Artest, Erik Barkley, Felipe Lopez and Kenny Satterfield.
De La Rosa was inducted into the St. Francis College (N.Y.) Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 as a tribute to his decorated playing career while in Brooklyn. De La Rosa, a 1983 graduate, finished his career as the program's leader in free-throw percentage and was second all-time in assists.
He played high school basketball nearby at Bishop Ford in Brooklyn. De La Rosa later began his coaching career at Bishop Ford where he served three years as an assistant coach under Ray Nash, the school's current president and Catholic High School Athletic Association president.
De La Rosa and his wife, Myrna, have two children: Lauren and Julian, who is a member of the Manhattan baseball team.
