By
Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
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Jeff Lebo
(Auburn SID Photo) |
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Has Terry Holland found
his man to replace Mack McCarthy as the next East Carolina basketball
coach?
It was reported on
103.7-FM Friday afternoon that former North Carolina guard and Auburn
head coach Jeff Lebo had been offered the ECU head coaching job. But as
of late Friday there was no official news about any type of agreement.
Lebo was recently fired by
Auburn and owns a 211-156 overall record as a head coach. He was a guard
under former North Carolina coach Dean Smith and had successful coaching
stints at Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Chattanooga before taking over at
Auburn.
Lebo interviewed for the
position on Thursday.
Former UNC-Charlotte coach
Bobby Lutz interviewed with Holland on Tuesday, just one day after
getting ousted by the 49ers. Lutz finished the season with a 19-12
record, but Charlotte lost seven of its last eight games including its
Atlantic-10 Tournament opener.
Lutz owns a career record
of 218-158.
Current ECU assistant
Michael Perry, who just completed his third year on the Pirates’ staff,
also interviewed for the vacancy. Perry previously served five seasons
as the head coach at Georgia State, where he guided the Panthers to the
Big Dance in 2001.
Georgia State upset
Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that year.
The search for a new coach
first centered on current Kansas assistant and former ECU head coach Joe
Dooley, now believed to be a candidate at Seton Hall. Holland had
serious discussions with Dooley about returning to ECU, but he chose to
stay at Kansas instead.
Current Wright State coach
Brad Brownell, who previously coached ant UNC-Wilmington, was mentioned
early in the search process as a potential candidate.
Holland has not stated a
specific time table for hiring a replacement for McCarthy.