Abdenour, Witthoff added to Arkansas men’s basketball staff

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tommy Abdenour has been named special assistant to the head coach and Ryan Witthoff was tabbed the coordinator of creative content, Arkansas men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman announced.

Abdenour, who worked five years in the G-League with Santa Cruz and Rapid City, spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Lindenwood. This past season — the Lions’ first as NCAA Division I members, Lindenwood led the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in free-throw percentage (75.6) and rank second in the OVC in 3-point percentage (39.1). Chris Childs held the top spot in the league with a free-throw percentage of 92.7, while Keenon Cole was atop the OVC with a 3-point percentage of 51 percent.

For Lindenwood’s final year in DII, the Lions led the nation in free throw percentage (.811) and were 20th in turnovers forced (10.4/gm). The 2020-21 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lions went 10-10 on the season, including a 10-9 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Lindenwood led the league with an average of 81.9 points per game, with the help of a conference-leading free throw percentage of 80.1.

In that shortened 2020-21 season, the Lions were led by T.J. Crockett who paced the GLVC by more than eight points per game with is 27.5 average per contest. Crockett was named a D2CCA All-American as he was one of the nation’s leading scorers across all levels of collegiate basketball. Crockett was a unanimous first-team all-GLVC selection, as he added four GLVC Player of the Week honors during the year.

In 2019-20, Abdenour helped coach the team to a strong offense, as the team was ranked second in the GLVC in points per game as a unit, putting up 81.2 points per game. The team also was one of the better squads at limiting turnovers, as the team finished fourth in the conference with a +2.54 turnover margin. The Lions closed out the season with wins in three of their final four games, all of which came at home.

Prior to his time at Lindenwood, Abdenour coached at various levels of basketball. Abdenour spent two seasons (2018 and 2019) as the coach of the National Basketball Association 2K’s Warriors Gaming Squad, where he was a 2019 Coach of the Year finalist. While coaching with the Warriors Gaming Squad, Abdenour developed game plans which included individual player scouting reports and both offensive and defensive schemes. Abdenour managed the game by calling plays and timeouts, diagramming plays, and employing in-game adjustments for his team’s offensive and defensive sets. Additionally, Abdenour was tasked with the direction of video sessions for both self-scouting review and opponent scouting. He led his team to a pair in in-season tournaments, a first by any NBA 2K team.

Abdenour also spent two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) as a special assistant to the head coach and a video coordinator assistant coach for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. Abdenour helped guide Santa Cruz to the best record in the G League during the 2018-19 campaign and a Western Conference Finals appearance. Abdenour was an integral part of the Warriors’ coaching staff, assisting with scouting reports, play diagrams, and game plan preparation.

Before arriving in Santa Cruz, Abdenour spent three years (2014-17) in various roles with the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA G League. Abdenour served as a video coordinator, assistant coach and a coaching associate during his time with the Drive.

Over his five-year tenure in the NBA G League, Abdenour has coached 50 players who have played in the NBA including 15 NBA call ups and one player drafted into the NBA. A few players include 20192020 NBA Rookie of the Year Finalist Kendrick Nunn, Spencer Dinwiddie, Georges Niang, Lorenzo Brown, C.J. Wilcox, Quinn Cook, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Jordan Crawford.

Abdenour was a member of the staff at NCAA Division I Central Michigan, where he worked alongside Kyle Gerdeman, during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. Abdenour arrived at Central Michigan as a graduate intern in 2012-13, before elevating to the position of video coordinator during the 2013-14 campaign.

Abdenour was a student manager at the University of Utah from 2008-11 and graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. Abdenour earned his master’s degree in education from the University of Washington in 2013. His father, Tom Abdenour, is a longtime athletic trainer who worked with both Musselman and Keith Smart during elder Abdenour’s 24 years with the Golden State Warriors.

Witthoff will be in charge of overseeing and producing content for the men’s basketball social media platforms. With his background in graphic design, photography and videography, he will combine digital content with the program’s recruiting strategies.

Witthoff comes to Fayetteville after serving as the manager of creative content for the Florida State men’s basketball program for four seasons. He created and maintained a visual brand by overseeing the graphic, photo and video content on social media and recruiting for the program. In his role, he assisted with the management of social media, served as the team photographer and assembled all forms of graphics associated with the program.

During his time, the Seminoles reached the Sweet 16 twice (2019 and 2020). The 2019-20 team finished fourth in the final Associated Press poll and produced two NBA lottery picks. His content ranked in the top 10 college programs in generating engagements on social media.

Witthoff has worked with several NBA players, including the likes of Scottie Barnes, Devin Vassell, Patrick Williams and Trent Forrest, and helped in strategizing their social media image as well as supplying them with content to post on their platforms.

Witthoff is originally from Marco Island, Fla., and graduated from Florida State University in December of 2022. He received a B.S. in sport management and is pursuing a master’s degree in sport management.