On Wednesday, the Knicks announced yesterday that Gene Cross will be the head coach of the Erie BayHawks, this season.

That was a position offered to Knicks legend Patrick Ewing a few weeks ago, but Ewing felt insulted and turned the position down. So the Knicks turned to Cross, who spent two years as the head coach at the University of Toledo, and was an assistant with the D-League’s Iowa Energy last season.

Cross had several stops in the college game as an assistant, including DePaul, Virginia and Notre Dame, before taking the head job at Toledo, where he went only 11-51 in two seasons. He has also served as an assistant in the D-League with the Utah Flash, Maine Red Claws and the Energy.

Knicks’ assistant general manager Allan Houston released a statement (via Marc Berman, New York Post):

“We are extremely excited that Gene Cross is the new head coach of the Erie BayHawks,” said Houston. “We believe that his passion for the game, experience in evaluating players, knowledge of the NBA Development League, and his commitment to winning and developing young talent on and off the court will make him a great addition to not only the BayHawks, but to the New York Knicks, as well.”

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