The New York Knicks today announced multiple front office hirings: Gerald Madkins has been named assistant general manager, Craig Robinson as vice president, player development and G League operations, Harold Ellis as director, player personnel, Michael Arcieri as director, basketball strategy and Fred Cofield as scout.
“Last month, the day after I was hired, I started a full evaluation of the entire basketball operations staff,” Knicks General Manager Scott Perry said. “My first goal was to build-up the highest level front office in the NBA. We are adding a host of highly-regarded and respected basketball people to work with the Knicks to fortify the franchise for years to come.”
According to the New York Post, “with five new additions, there will, at most, be one current front-office member on thin ice, as a source told The Post. Phil Jackson’s top advisor, Clarence Gaines Jr., will stay on. The Knicks had a handful of openings that were never filled — with the death this season of scout Ben Jobe, the retirement of personnel director John Gabriel because of Parkinson’s disease, the departure of executive Chris Bernard and firing of developmental coach Josh Longstaff.”
Madkins returns to the Knicks organization where he was a scout from 2003-07 after four seasons as the L.A. Clippers assistant general manager (2015-17) and director of basketball operations (2013-15). Previously, he served as vice president of player personnel for New Orleans (2010-12), director of scouting for Houston and vice president of player personnel for Rio Grande of the Developmental League (2008-10) and West Coast scout for Seattle/Oklahoma City (2007-08). During his time with those organizations, he was involved in the NBA Draft selections of Anthony Davis (first overall, 2011); Russell Westbrook (fourth, 2007), Wilson Chandler (17th, 2006), Serge Ibaka (24th, 2007), David Lee (30th, 2004), Trevor Ariza (43rd, 2003) and Chase Budinger (44th, 2009). The California-native, played 48 games in the NBA for Cleveland and Golden State, and also played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association, Spanish Basketball League and French Basketball League. He began his post-playing career as a coach at California State University (2000-01) and then served as an assistant coach at his alma mater California, Los Angeles (2001-03).
Robinson spent this past season with Milwaukee serving as vice president of player and organizational development after serving as head coach at Oregon State (2008-14) and Brown University (2006-08). He led Oregon State to a 93-104 record (.472). The Chicago-native began his coaching career as an assistant at the Illinois Institute of Technology (1988-90) and then, became head coach at Chicago Lab School (1999-2000), before serving as an assistant at Northwestern University (2000-06). He was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton University, where he was a teammate of Knicks President Steve Mills. He was then selected by Philadelphia in the fourth round (93rd overall) of 1983 NBA Draft, before playing professionally in England for two seasons.
Ellis joins the organization after five seasons with Orlando as director of pro scouting. Previously, he spent four seasons with Detroit as a scout (2009-12) and as an assistant coach (2008-09) and six seasons with Atlanta as a minor league coordinator/scout. Prior to the NBA, he coached Rome (GA) of the WBA to back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006, earning himself consecutive Coach of the Year honors. He also served as a coach for Roanoke (G League), Rockford (CBA), and Las Vegas (IBL). He played three seasons in the NBA, averaging 5.8 points in 145 games for the L.A. Clippers and Denver, and also played in the CBA, USBL and in Greece. He’s a graduate of Morehouse College.
Arcieri, spent the past five seasons with Orlando, most recently serving as director of basketball operations during the 2016-17 season after being the director of basketball administration since 2012-13. His responsibilities included: CBA operations and legal counsel and compliance, salary cap and roster management, contract drafting and execution, player trade and negotiation assistance, budget development and oversight, as well as player evaluation. Prior to joining Orlando, he was on the team counsel with Texas (Developmental League) and a high school coach at Old Tappan, NJ. He was raised in Whitestone (Queens) and Ridgewood, NJ and is a graduate of Bergen Catholic HS, Wesleyan University and Brooklyn Law School.
Cofield was originally selected by New York in the fourth round (73rd overall) of 1985 NBA Draft and averaged 3.7 points over 45 games during the 1985-86 season. He also played for Chicago in 1986-87. The Michigan-native played collegiately at the University of Oregon and Eastern Michigan University.
