Daily Dirt – 3/31/22

Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)


A few quick things to start the day. More later today…


Some names to keep an eye on in the search at Miami (OH) are former Xavier head coach Travis Steele, former Indiana assistant Dane Fife, and former K-State assistant Jermaine Henderson. Steele, who was released a few weeks ago, had been at Xavier since 2009 as an assistant before being elevated to head coach back in 2018. Fife, who spent last season on the staff of his alma mater Indiana, had been the head coach at IPFW (2005-11), and spent ten seasons after that on Tom Izzo’s staff at Michigan State. Henderson had been at K-State for the past five seasons. He is a Miami (OH) grad who spent 15-seasons on the staff there following his graduation.


I’ve heard that Fife could be in play at Western Michigan as well. Another name that I’ve now heard a few times at WMU is former Central Michigan head coach Ernie Ziegler. He had been with Ben Howland at Mississippi State since 2016, and has also worked as an assistant at UCLA, Pitt, Bowling Green, K-State, and Detroit. He went 75-111 (.403) in his six seasons as the head coach at CMU. Working on a few more names here.


David Grace is a hot name to keep an eye on at VMI. Grace had most recently served as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt, and was also an assistant at Cal, UCLA, Oregon State, San Francisco, and Sacramento State. The Maryland native spent 20-years in the Air Force, and served in Operation Desert Storm.


I can confirm that former Citadel associate head coach Jack Castleberry will be hired as an assistant at Queens University of Charlotte. Castleberry had been at The Citadel since 2016. He has also been an assistant at his alma mater VMI, and worked as a women’s assistant at Siena. The official announcement is expected later today.


Speaking of The Citadel, I have heard that John Reynolds is in the mix to join Ed Conroy’s new staff there. Reynolds most recently served as the Special Assistant to Head Men’s Basketball Coach/Director of On Campus Recruiting/Director of Social Media under Frank Martin at South Carolina. He is a 2011 graduate of the Citadel where he played for Conroy.


The 2022 HoopDirt.com College Basketball Coaching Changes Tracker with moves at all levels can be found HERE.


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