Young Harris College President Drew Van Horn, Ph.D., and Director of Athletics Randy Dunn announced Tuesday (April 24) afternoon that Jeremy Currier will be the next head coach of the Mountain Lion men’s basketball program.
“I am extremely excited that Coach Currier will be directing our men’s basketball program for the future,” said Dunn. “Coach Currier’s passion to developing young men, recruiting top quality student-athletes and winning will be infectious. His philosophy and up-tempo style of play will be enjoyable for the student-athletes to play and for our fans to watch.”
Currier replaces Pete Herrmann, who announced his retirement last month.
“I am honored and excited to become the head coach of the Young Harris College basketball program,” said Currier. “I would like to thank Dr. Van Horn and Randy Dunn for this tremendous opportunity. From incredible fan support to high-level academics, first-class facilities and the ability to recruit at the highest level, everything is in place at Young Harris to build an elite program. My family and I are honored to become a part of the Mountain Lion family, and I look forward to adding to its storied history.”
Currier comes to the Enchanted Valley from Pfeiffer University located in Misenheimer, North Carolina, where he spent the past 11 seasons, including the last eight as its head coach.
Currier led the Falcons to 47 wins with one of the most potent offenses over the past two seasons as Pfeiffer scored 100 points or more in 40 games (71 percent).
Currier has coached 19 all-conference players, three of which have been conference players of the year and one conference freshman of the year. Five players have been selected to an all-region team, and three were named All-Americans. He has had over 20 former players go on to play professional basketball in nine different countries as well as the American Basketball Association.
Last season Currier guided the Falcons to a 21-4 record in their first season as an NCAA Division III institution. They were ranked No. 1 nationally by three different outlets (BennettRank, HERO Sports, StatGeek Analytics) and won two in-season tournaments while averaging a program-best 110 points per game. They led the NCAA in total steals (450), steals per game (18), forced turnovers (799), and turnover margin (+14.4) while also setting 10 school records.
Currier was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Southeast Region Coach of the Year and the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year in 2016-17 after leading the Falcons to a Conference Carolinas Championship and the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 26-5 record. The Falcons led NCAA Division I and Division II in scoring (104.3 ppg), total steals (391), forced turnovers (725), and turnover margin (+10.4) while breaking 11 Pfeiffer school records. Pfeiffer was ranked 22nd in the NABC national polls and ranked fourth in the D2SIDA Southeast Regional Rankings. Four of the five starters on the 2016-17 team were members of the 1,000 point club at Pfeiffer.
In 2015-16, Currier led the Falcons to the first NCAA Division I win in program history on Nov. 5 with a victory over North Carolina A&T State University. The Falcons were one of the top defensive teams in the country, ranking top 15 nationally in blocked shots (144), field goal percentage defense (.403), and blocked shots per game (5.0).
Currier led his 2014-15 team to a 16-12 record, a 10-win turnaround from the previous season. The improvement was the one of the largest turnarounds in the nation. The Falcons defense was one of the best in the nation, ranking second in opponent field goal percentage (.381), sixth in blocked shots per game (5.2), 10th in total blocked shots (146), and 15th in defensive rebounds per game (27.7).
Currier had previously served as assistant basketball coach at Pfeiffer under Dave Davis, where the Falcons finished as the highest scoring team in Division II at 103.1 points per game and was ranked third nationally in three-pointers per game (10.6) and steals per game (11.2), while ranking fifth in the country in three-point field goal percentage (.423). Currier was rated the sixth-best Division II assistant coach for recruiting success in 2009 by College Bound Hoops and the JUCO Recruiting Report.
Prior to Pfeiffer, Currier was the head coach at Daniel Webster College where the team of his own recruits won a record 18 games and a first ever invitation to the ECAC Tournament. Currier led the Eagles to their highest win total in 10 years.
Currier played his collegiate basketball at Endicott College (2000-04). He was the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2003, finishing as the NCAA statistical leader (all divisions) in three-point field goal percentage (52 percent) in 2003 and was a two-time all-conference and All-New England selection (2002, 2003), finishing with over 1,000 career points. In 2011, Currier was inducted into the Endicott College Hall of Fame.
Currier earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Endicott College in 2004 and his master’s in leadership from Pfeiffer in 2011.
