Canisius College Director of Athletics Bill Maher announced several staff changes, effective immediately.

Maher announced that Tim Paul has been hired as the College's new director of student-athlete academic support services. In this role, Paul will be responsible for advising student-athletes and ensuring that they all continue to meet NCAA satisfactory progress requirements and the College's graduation regulations. He will serve as the athletic department's liaison with the school's academic administration and he will also oversee the College's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Prior to this new role, Paul served as an assistant coach on the Canisius men's basketball staff for five seasons. In addition to in-game coaching, practice planning and opponent scouting, he coordinated the team's academic support efforts and community relations activities. During his time on the men's basketball staff, he helped 10 members of the men's basketball team earn their undergraduate degrees from the College.

Paul came to Buffalo before the 2006-07 season after spending two seasons on the men's basketball staff at Hofstra University on then-head coach Tom Pecora's staff, where he worked under current Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta. From 2000-04, Paul was an assistant varsity basketball coach at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y., while also serving as a history teacher in the New York City Department of Education.

"Tim has done a great job for our program over the years and has been an integral part of our academic success here at the College," Parrotta said of his former assistant. "He will do a great job in his new role while still working closely with our team in the future."

Replacing Paul on the men's basketball staff is Gabe Michael, who served as the men's basketball program's director of basketball operations during the 2010-11 season. Michael, a Buffalo native, came to Canisius after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Medaille College. In his time with the Mavericks program, Medaille won back-to-back Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference titles and earned two-straight berths into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. Michael joined the college coaching ranks in 2006-07 when he spent one year at Hiram College. Prior to his time at Hiram, he served as the freshman team head coach and varsity assistant coach at Canisius High School. He helped guide the school's freshmen to a perfect 19-0 record, while the varsity team won the 2005 Manhattan Cup championship.

Michael graduated from Xavier in 2004 with his degree in entrepreneurship. While at Xavier, he volunteered as a student-manager with the men's basketball team while the Musketeers won the Atlantic 10 championship and advanced to the school's first "Elite Eight" appearance under then-head coach Thad Matta.

"Gabe has demonstrated all the characteristics that a head coach looks for in an assistant coach," Parrotta said. "He did a great job for us in his role as our program's director of basketball operations and he has proven that he deserves this opportunity through his hard work and loyalty."