Just weeks after it was announced that men’s basketball assistant coach Danny Sprinkle decided to leave Cal State Northridge for his alma mater, Montana State, assistant coach Joel Sobotka also decided to leave the team to become the top assistant coach at the University of Portland.

“It is a great situation because the assistants have a great opportunity in front of them,” said interim Athletic Director Janet Lucas. “Sprinkle is going home where he holds a lot of records from his playing days. They will both be missed tremendously.”

According to sports information director Ryan Finney, both coaches announced their resignation on April 17.

Both departing coaches could not be reached for comment.

Also resigning from men’s basketball is CSUN’s director of basketball operations Michael Scott, who announced his resignation this week so he could spend more time with his ailing father and grandfather in West Virginia.

Lucas said the director of basketball operations usually has an annual turnover and that the position is more like an internship.

“The process of finding new assistants and a new director of basketball operations has already begun,” Lucas said. “The positions will hopefully be filled by June or July.”

Lucas said that the jobs are being advertised on NCAA News and the CSUN website. Lucas hopes that word of mouth will also help to fill the positions quickly.

Lucas said that both assistants helped with the recruiting process and not having them there should not hurt the recruiting process.

“For (Sprinkle and Sobotka), we offer them congratulations and good luck,” Lucas said. “Both of them left some big shoes to fill.”

Justin Satzman can be reached at sports_sundial@csun.edu.