Atlanta Hawks Announce Basketball Operations Hires and Promotions

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024

The Atlanta Hawks today announced a series of hires and promotions in its basketball operations group.

In the front office, Daniel Starkman has been promoted to vice president of player personnel and Jay Rodriguez to pro personnel coordinator, while Miles Simon and Bubba Burrage have been hired as pro scouts and Nick Restifo as director of basketball research; under the player health & performance team, Ben Peterson has been named vice president, player health & performance, Ryan Donahue as head of medical and Ryan Brooks as performance physical therapist, while Paddy Hogben has been promoted to head of performance and John Dusel to head athletic trainer.

Starkman, who served as general manager of the NBA G League College Park Skyhawks last season, is in his 10thseason with the Hawks organization. Prior to his time with College Park, he served as senior manager of basketball operations for four seasons with the Hawks. He began his time in Atlanta as a seasonal assistant in 2015 before being promoted to several different positions within basketball operations including manager of basketball operations, manager of basketball information/scouting coordinator and coordinator of basketball operations.

Rodriguez joined the Hawks in 2022 as a front office/basketball operations assistant. He holds degrees in Communication, Philosophy, and Sociology from Boston College, where he also earned a Master of Business Administration. Rodriguez was a men’s basketball student manager for four years at BC and a graduate assistant for two years. He has additional experience working as an administrative assistant at Basketball City in New York. 

Simon spent last season as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. He has prior coaching experience with the University of Arizona, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League, where he was head coach from 2021-23. As a player, Simon earned Most Outstanding Player honors after leading Arizona to the NCAA championship in 1997. Selected 42nd overall by Orlando in the 1998 NBA Draft, Simon played for Orlando in 1998-99 before spending two seasons with the Dakota Wizards of the CBA, where he took home league MVP honors in 2002.

Burrage has 28 years of NBA scouting and coaching experience, most recently with the Phoenix Suns for 11 years, including time as director of scouting from 2017-22. He has prior experience as general manager of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA G League. Burrage began his career as a video coordinator with the Sacramento Kings before becoming an advance scout and assistant coach with the club. He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo with a degree in journalism.

Restifo was with the New York Knicks the last four years as manager of coaching analytics. He began his time in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he spent four seasons, finishing as senior basketball operations analyst. He is a graduate of University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in marketing. Restifo went on to earn a Master’s from Central Connecticut State University in data mining. 

Peterson spent the last five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, most recently as vice president of player health & performance, overseeing athletic training, functional performance, nutrition, and strength & conditioning. He joined the 49ers following two years as director of sports science with the Philadelphia Flyers. Peterson was previously director of research and analytics for Catapult, a global sports performance technology company. A native of Plymouth, Minn., Peterson owns a Ph.D. in Kinesiology from University of Minnesota and a Bachelor’s in history and business from Northwestern University.

Donahue was with the San Francisco 49ers for the last nine seasons as director of reconditioning. Prior to his time in San Francisco, the Andover, Mass. native was a physical therapist at the Andrews Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from University of Connecticut and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Northeastern University, where he also served as assistant director of strength & conditioning for the school’s sports performance department. 

Brooks was previously the director of rehabilitation for Rutgers University football. In 2022-23, he completed a fellowship with Duke University athletics, where he worked with football, men’s basketball and Olympic sport athletes. Brooks received a Bachelor of Arts in exercise and sport science from University of North Carolina, also earning a Master’s (in exercise physiology) and Doctorate of Physical Therapy from UNC. He later served a residency in sports physical therapy at University of Miami prior to his time at Duke.

Hogben joined the Hawks last season as the team’s strength and conditioning coach. He came to Atlanta after spending the prior three years as lead athletic development coach with the Geelong Football Club in Australian rules football. Hogben also has experience with P3 Peak Performance Project, and in professional rugby in England as strength & conditioning coach with Saracens RFC, Bedford Blues, and with Bath Rugby. The native of England is a graduate of the University of Bath with a degree in sports and exercise science and holds a Master’s from the University of Bedfordshire.

Dusel, in his seventh season with the Hawks, was most recently the team’s interim head athletic trainer after being promoted from assistant athletic trainer. Prior to his stint in Atlanta, Dusel was the assistant athletic trainer for the Golden State Warriors, after originally joining the organization as a sports performance intern in 2016. He holds a Bachelor’s in Athletic Training from University of New England and a Master’s from East Tennessee State University in Sports Science and Coach Education.