Huntingdon College President J. Cameron West and athletic director Mike Turk officially announced on Friday that David Gurganus will lead the men’s basketball program as head coach.
Gurganus spent the past season as an assistant men’s basketball coach for the Hawks and helped lead the program to a 13-13 record and a berth in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament.
“Huntingdon basketball is poised for continued success under the energetic leadership of Coach Gurganus,” West said. “As a former NCAA Division III student-athlete, Coach Gurganus brings an understanding of Huntingdon’s commitment to supporting our student-athletes in and out of the classroom. I’m excited about the future of Hawks basketball with Coach Gurganus at the helm.”
Gurganus replaces Caleb Kimbrough, who was recently hired as the head men’s basketball coach at Hampden-Sydney College.
“I can’t thank President West and Coach Turk enough for believing in me and blessing me with a tremendous opportunity,” Gurganus said. “I also would like to thank Coach Kimbrough for the confidence he showed in me as his assistant and the example he set as the head men’s basketball coach last year.
“We were able to accomplish a lot last season and we made great strides with our program. We still have a lot we want to accomplish with this program and we will work extremely hard to accomplish our goals. With the good core group of returning players we have and the new faces we expect to add, I’m excited about what the future holds for Huntingdon men’s basketball.”
This will be Gurganus’ first head coaching position, but he is no stranger to the USA South Athletic Conference. Gurganus played basketball for North Carolina Wesleyan before serving as an assistant coach with the Battling Bishops and at Averett University.
“Coach Gurganus has impressed all of us since joining our program last year,” Turk said. “We are looking forward to watching him continue the upward trend that our men’s basketball program has taken, and we feel that he is the right man to get us to where we want to be.”
Before coming to Huntingdon, Gurganus spent three seasons at Averett. During that time, the Cougars won 41 games, won the 2016-17 regular-season conference title and qualified for the USA South Tournament each season.
Gurganus worked under the 2017 USA South Coach of the Year, David Doino, and helped mentor one All-Region Player of the Year, two first-team All-Region performers, two conference Players of the Year and three All-Conference selections.
Before joining the Averett staff, Gurganus began his coaching career at his alma mater during the 2014-15 season.
As a player, Gurganus was a two-time team captain and a two-time USA South sportsmanship award winner and was a member of the Battling Bishops’ 2010-11 conference championship team.
Gurganus earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from North Carolina Wesleyan and his MBA from Averett.
http://www.huntingdonhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/releases/201902200uw9v7
