RICHMOND, Va. (AP) � Jerry Wainwright, who led North Carolina-Wilmington to three conference titles and an upset victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament this year, was introduced Wednesday as the head coach at Richmond.

Wainwright, 55, succeeds John Beilein, who resigned last week to take the head coaching job at West Virginia.

Seahawks assistant coach Brad Brownell replaced Wainwright at Wilmington.

Richmond exceeded expectations in its first season in the Atlantic 10, posting an 11-5 league record and advancing to the tournament final. Wainwright said the Spiders can do even better.

``There's only one reason I came here from a basketball coaching perspective,'' he told reporters and about 150 Spiders supporters at a news conference. ``I think you can win at the highest level. I think you can recruit the top student-athletes in the country, I think you can be a national force. I think we have a unique place on the national stage.''

He said his team will have three goals every year: win the regular-season title, win the A-10 tournament and advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament.

``Anybody who doesn't believe that, doesn't think it could happen, please don't come out and watch us,'' said Wainwright, who said he wants the Robins Center to become the A-10's toughest arena for visiting teams.

In eight seasons at Wilmington, Wainwright was 136-103, including a 23-10 season this past season. The Seahawks upset Southern California in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing to eventual finalist Indiana in the second round.

Richmond is not unfamiliar territory to Wainwright. The Spiders and the Seahawks both competed in the Colonial Athletic Association before Richmond's departure for the A-10.

``We had some great, great battles,'' said Wainwright, who added that Beilein became a good friend during those years. ``There's tremendous affinity between the two programs.''

Richmond guard Reggie Brown said the Seahawks were the CAA's toughest team to play, especially at Wilmington.

``Their defense is real physical,'' Brown said. ``They played great help defense. I hope we can be like that.''

Brown said he got so excited listening to Wainwright's news conference that he could barely stay in his seat.

``I'm ready to jump on ship, because he wins and that's what I want to do,'' Brown said.

Another believer is former Richmond coach Dick Tarrant.

``The whole key is fit,'' Tarrant said. ``This is a fit made in heaven. I think he likes coaching overachievers.''

Wainwright introduced two assistants he is bringing with him from Wilmington � Rodney Terry and former Spiders standout Mike Winiecki. He said he hopes to announce another assistant within a few days.

Before taking over at Wilmington, Wainwright was an assistant at Wake Forest for nine years. He said he expects to be at Richmond for many years as well.

``I'm not in a retirement mode, not in a kick-back mode. I'm in a championship mode,'' he said.

Wainwright was one of three finalists for the Richmond job. The others were Davidson's Bob McKillop and UNC-Greensboro's Fran McCaffery.