NEWARK, DE -- University of Delaware men’s basketball head coach Monté Ross has announced that former New Hampshire assistant Jeff Rafferty (at right) has joined the Blue Hen program as an assistant coach.

Rafferty, who spent the last two years at New Hampshire under head coach Bill Herrion, replaces former Delaware assistant coach Ryan Iversen, who recently resigned to move to his native Minnesota.

The Wildcats went 12-17 overall and 8-8 in the America East during Rafferty’s first year in Durham in 2005-06, and followed with a 10-20 mark including a 6-10 conference record this past season.

Prior to arriving at New Hampshire, Rafferty spent four seasons as the top assistant coach at UMass-Lowell. The River Hawks went 94-30 in Rafferty’s four seasons in Lowell, capturing both the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2003 and 2004 while making back-to-back trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

Rafferty spent the 2000-01 season at Union College, and was an assistant coach at Division III Springfield College for two seasons from 1998-2000. While at Springfield, Rafferty helped his alma mater go 40-17 including a 16-8 mark in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference (NEWMAC) while earning his master’s degree in sports management. During Rafferty’s second season Springfield went 21-9, captured the NEWMAC Tournament championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Rafferty, who graduated from Springfield in 1997, served one season as an assistant coach at Texas-Pan American in 1997-98 and began his career by serving an internship with the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

“ I think with Jeff’s experience he will be able to help with the skill development of our players, and his connections will help our recruiting efforts,” Ross said. “Jeff will be a great addition to our staff.”

Rafferty and his wife, Whitney, have two sons Patrick and Brendan.