Here are some items that I’ve collected over the past few days……
Anthony Grant has finalized his staff at Alabama. Grant has named Dan Hipsher (South Florida), John Brannen (VCU) and Antoine Pettway (retained from previous staff) as assistant coaches. He also added Tony Pujol as the director of basketball operations, James Kane as the basketball video coordinator and Andy Weigel as strength and conditioning coach. They were all part of the staff at VCU.
http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042509aaa.h…
Wake Forest assistant Pat Kelsey will be hired by Chris Mack at Xavier. Kelsey is a 1998 Xavier grad and has worked at Wake since 2002.
http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/kelsey_…
Kelsey’s hiring has some impact at Appalachian State. Kelsey was rumored to be a candidate for the open head coaching position at ASU. With Kelsey no longer available, the Mountaineers list gets shorter and shorter. As we already know, Buzz Peterson has turned them down (reportedly twice) and The Citadel’s Ed Conroy still has not been given permission to speak with AD Charlie Cobb. Also, Missouri assistant Melvin Watkins, who has been mentioned as a possibility has said that he is not involved (http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/22/watkins-link… ). This search just gets stranger and stranger. Look for former Alabama assistant James Holland to get some serious consideration – he may be the last guy left standing.
What’s happening at Texas Pan American? Besides Appalachian State, they are the only other DI school to not have filled their vacancy. Tom Schuberth was fired on March 7th – almost two months ago. This is definitely going to impact recruiting at this point. I’m hearing that the front runner is UTPA alum Kevin Johnson. Johnson is currently an assistant at Nicholls State (former head coach at Centenary). He scored 1,156 career points in his career at UTPA and was first-team all-conference his senior season (1988). I’m not sure why this is taking so long, but Johnson would be a good fit. He was 65-100 in 6 seasons at Centenary, but at this point, he looks like their best option. Why not get an alum in there who can really sell the school?
Keep an eye on the situation at DePaul. I’m hearing that an announcement is coming soon on the fate of the staff – not Head Coach Jerry Wainwright, but his assistants. Word on the street is that there will be some staff changes associated with Wainwright keeping his job for another season.
