Larry Blunt, an experienced developer of talent at all levels, has joined the Drake University men’s basketball coaching staff, head coach Darian DeVries announced.
Blunt joins the Bulldogs after spending the last two seasons as an assistant at Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., where he helped guide the Golden Griffins to a share of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title with a 15-3 conference record and an overall mark of 21-12. The league title was the program’s first since 1993-94 and the 21 wins equaled the school record for regular season wins. The squad advanced to the postseason with a CBI appearance, its fifth postseason appearance in six years, and three student-athletes earned All-MAAC honors including Takal Molson garnering MAAC Freshman of the Year honors. In his first season on head coach Reggie Witherspoon’s staff, the team earned an 18-16 record.
“We are thrilled to add Larry to our basketball staff,” DeVries said. “He has a tremendous on-floor presence and is a talented tactician who is very well respected by his peers for his humble nature and tireless work ethic. His experience will help us make recruiting inroads on the East Coast and Canada in addition to continuing to strengthen our ties within the Midwest.”
Prior to returning to the college sideline, Blunt enjoyed three seasons as the head coach at Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ontario, where he had the opportunity to work with more than a dozen student-athletes that went on to earn Division I scholarships and/or play professionally.
In June 2016, two of his former players, former Kentucky guard Jamal Murray and center Thon Maker were taken seventh and ninth, respectively, in the 2016 NBA Draft. Other notable players who Blunt coached at Orangeville Prep include Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Daniel Cummings (ETSU), Jelani Mofford (UNC-Greensboro), Jalen Poyser (UNLV), Kalif Young (Providence), and Alonzo Walker (Kent State).
Blunt began his basketball coaching career in 2005-06 at Eastern Mennonite, a Division III school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Courtland, Va., native spent the next two seasons on staff at Shaw University, a Division II program located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Blunt moved on to join the coaching staff at Hampden-Sydney College from 2008-12. At Hampden-Sydney, he recruited and worked with Harrison George, a Division III All-American, Mike Murray, an all-ODAC selection and Khobi Williamson, a three-time All-ODAC honoree.
Blunt moved to Canada in 2012 and took over as the head coach for the Oshawa Power of the National Basketball League of Canada. During the 2012-13 season, he helped lead the Power to a franchise-record for victories in a season.
As a student-athlete, Blunt earned two varsity letters in football at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C., before transferring to James Madison, where he completed his collegiate football career playing for the Dukes, helping the team to an NCAA I-AA National Championship. He earned his degree in public administration from James Madison in 2005.
http://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2018/4/16/larry-blunt-joins-drake-mens-basketball-staff.aspx
