Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree is back in the area as a coach, a role he gravitated toward in college

When Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree was starring at Neumann Goretti, the forward drew interest from multiple high-level programs. Two schools rose to the front of his recruitment: Miami and Villanova.

Playing for the Wildcats would give him a chance to remain in Philadelphia, but the Hurricanes’ recruiting efforts were led by assistant coach Adam Fisher, with whom Cosby-Roundtree developed a close relationship.

In the end, the 6-foot-9 forward committed to Villanova, but he gave Fisher a call to let him know of his college decision, which stuck with the coach.

They remained in touch as they went their separate ways and reconnected at the NBA Summer League this year. Fisher, by then the Temple head coach, and Cosby-Roundtree, then a video assistant with the Brooklyn Nets, sat together and chatted for the entire half of a game.

Fisher was looking to fill the director of player development position on his staff. He knew Cosby-Roundtree wanted to move into college basketball. After bringing Cosby-Roundtree in for an interview, Fisher realized the former Villanova standout had exactly what he was looking for. So the coach hired him, and now, Cosby-Roundtree is back in the city where his basketball journey started.

“I’ve been enjoying it. I love it,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I’m learning so much about college basketball coaching now, compared to what it was when I was playing. I think for me, the biggest learning curve is patience.”

When Cosby-Roundtree joined Villanova in the 2017-18 season, he walked into one of the top college basketball programs in the country. The Wildcats had won the national championship two years prior and were led by coach Jay Wright.

Cosby-Roundtree won a national championship in his freshman year and spent the following two seasons growing in his role as a reserve forward.

However, the end of his Villanova career was hampered by injuries.

Cosby-Roundtree had stress fractures in his shins, which he had dealt with since high school. He missed the entire 2020-21 season and played in six games in 2021-22, his final year of college basketball.

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Despite not playing, Wright wanted Cosby-Roundtree to remain around the team and help players during practice. He also provided a veteran presence on the bench. Cosby-Roundtree initially wasn’t interested in coaching, but watching from the sideline at Villanova gave him a new perspective.

“I just found myself seeing a game from a different view,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I was just overly talking, overly communicating. Like, ‘Hey, you should do this, or you should do X, Y, and Z, make sure you’re here.’ I was just naturally coaching.”

After graduating from Villanova, Cosby-Roundtree spent a year coaching at Cristo Rey before he moved into a video assistant role with the Nets.

At both stops, he learned the ins and outs of coaching. He had to learn how to be patient with high school kids and be prepared to help the professionals in the NBA.

“It was more just the difference is the amount of patience doesn’t have to be as long, for better or worse,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “You can explain it to [NBA players], and they’ll catch onto it quicker. ... I think during my time with the Nets, I learned a lot about how to be organized, how to prepare, and how to improve guys.”

Cosby-Roundtree believes his experience with the Nets helped shape a seamless transition to the college game, where Fisher was waiting for him.

Fisher had the same staff for his first two years at Temple, but a position opened on the coach’s support staff when former Owls guard Khalif Wyatt — who currently is facing an NCAA penalty for placing hundreds of bets while as an assistant at West Chester in 2022 — left for a job as a video coordinator with Nets G League team this offseason.

Fisher asked Wright, as well as some of Cosby-Roundtree’s coaches in Brooklyn, about the 27-year-old coach. He got rave reviews.

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“[His] character was off the charts,” Fisher said. “So then we brought him in and we talked to him, and he just aligned with what I’m looking to do. He gets Philadelphia, gets the Big 5. He understands the history of Temple. He’s a worker. This guy’s in here early. He’s detail-oriented. I’ll say, ‘Hey, I want to come up with two new drills.’ By midnight, I get an email with a video in writing and things that match what I’m looking for. He has been a fantastic addition.”

Coming to Temple also offered Cosby-Roundtree a chance to return to the city where he fell in love with basketball.

“To be able to give back to the city that I came from, and where I grew up is something that I personally really wanted to do,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “Being able to impact young lives … I enjoyed it, and that’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”

Cosby-Roundtree knows he still has plenty to learn, and Temple is his chance to soak in more information. He hopes to have the opportunity to one day run his own program.

“I just want to keep learning,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “The more I can learn from this staff, where everybody’s been a head coach before and they’re long-tenured assistant coaches, just learning as much as I can from them.”