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UC Riverside Director of Athletics Tamica Smith Jones announced today that the Highlanders have signed Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dennis Cutts to a contract extension through the 2019-20 season.
Cutts was named interim head coach in 2013-14, and head coach the following year, after six seasons as the lead assistant at UC Riverside. UCR improved from six to 10 to 14 wins under Cutts, and last season, the Highlanders recorded the second most wins in their Division I history as well as the second most wins in Big West play.
“Over the last couple of years, our Men’s Basketball Program has been taking the steps necessary to compete for a Big West Championship on the court, while serving as a model for our other athletics programs to folllow with regards to community outreach, connecting with alumni, and improved academic success,” said Smith Jones. “Dennis Cutts’ leadership is a huge part of that, which is why we made this committment to him, as well as the program and its student-athletes.”
“UC Riverside and the city of Riverside have been a great place for my wife and me, and we are excited to continue to call it our home,” said Cutts. “I’m thankful to the administration for their support of our program, and I look forward to the success we can accomplish together. Our mission is to continue to bring in quality student-athletes to UC Riverside who are committed to the advancement of our program and University.”
Last season, UC Riverside’s Taylor Johns (16.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.68 bpg) was named First-Team, All-Big West, while teammate Jaylen Bland (15.2 ppg, 38.8 3G%) earned Second-Team, All-Big West and Newcomer of the Year honors. Johns and Bland were the highest scoring teammates in the program’s Division I history, and they are both back for their senior years in 2015-16 as the highest returning scoring duo in the Big West.
The Highlanders also just posted their second-highest, single-season APR (957) and highest four-year multi-year APR rate (935) in the program’s history.
http://gohighlanders.com/news/2015/5/26/MBB_0526151808.aspx
