Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol finalized his coaching staff on Monday with the announcement of Duffy Conroy as assistant coach.

Conroy has spent the past 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Milwaukee under Rob Jeter, helping the Panthers to four postseason appearances including NCAA Tournament berths in 2006 and 2014.

“Duffy Conroy is an experienced and respected coach with a tremendous basketball mind,” Konkol said. “He has coached in the NCAA Tournament and has a sharp eye for talent as a recruiter. Our student-athletes will benefit from his genuine desire to help them improve daily. We are very happy to have Duffy join the Louisiana Tech family.”

During his stint at Milwaukee, Conroy helped develop 12 All-Horizon league players, two of which came this past season which marked the first time since 2006 the Panthers had multiple players on the league’s first or second teams.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work at Louisiana Tech for Eric Konkol,” Conroy said. “He is a tremendous coach, a proven recruiter and an even better person. I look forward to being a part of the championship tradition at LA Tech and my family can’t wait to move to Ruston.”

At UWM, Conroy also served as the scheduling coordinator and was part of four 20-win seasons, two Horizon League regular season titles and two tournament titles, the most recent one coming in 2014.

After the Panthers had finished last the season prior and having been picked preseason to finish the same way, Milwaukee won four games in eight days to win the championship and earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Tournament for just the fourth time in program history. Milwaukee’s 13-win increase from the previous season was the best year-to-year improvement in the country.

The Panthers also enjoyed back-to-back postseason appearances in 2011 and 2012 in the National Invitation Tournament and CollegeInsider.com Tournament, respectively.

In the 2010-11 season, UWM finished the regular season by winning nine straight league games to earn a share of the Horizon League crown. Despite losing to Butler in the conference title game, Conroy and the Panthers had frequent success against the Bulldogs. In 2009, UWM upset 21st-ranked Butler, 63-60, which was the program’s first-ever win over a nationally-ranked team during the regular season.

Arguably the most memorable season at Milwaukee for Conroy came in his first season with the team in 2005-06. The Panthers posted a 22-9 overall record, won the Horizon League regular season and conference title, had a school-record three players named all-league, earned a best-ever 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament and collected an upset victory over Oklahoma in the first round.

Conroy began his coaching career at Milwaukee in 2000 as an administrative assistant for Bo Ryan and moved with Ryan to the University of Wisconsin where he served as the video coordinator for two years when the Badgers claimed back-to-back Big Ten Conference regular season titles for the first time in school history and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2003.

Following his stint with the Badger program, Conroy took over head coaching and athletics director duties at his high school alma mater for the 2003-04 school year before returning to Madison for the 2004-05 campaign. He coordinated the day-to-day operational aspects of the Badger program, including travel and budgetary matters, as UW made a run to the Elite Eight.

Conroy had a successful playing career at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. A two-time all-conference performer as well as a team captain, he led St. Ambrose to three appearances in the NAIA Tournament. As a junior, he helped the Fighting Bees to a 20-win season, then led the squad to 26 victories one year later en route to honorable mention All-America honors.

Born in Naperville, Ill., Conroy was an all-state football and basketball player at Davenport Assumption High School. His brother Ed is the current head coach at Tulane University.

Conroy and his wife, Nikki, have four children.

His hiring is pending the approval of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.

http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/061515aaa.html