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Minorities factoring
heavily in hoops search
By
Denny
O'Brien
©2005 Bonesville.net
East Carolina could be on
the verge of a groundbreaking hire to fill its basketball coaching
vacancy.
According to various
sources, three names that have emerged as candidates to replace former
Pirates coach Bill Herrion share key attributes. Each is regarded by
many observers to be among the best up-and-coming coaches nationally and
each is an African-American.
Maryland Senior Associate
Head Coach Dave Dickerson, Florida Associate Head Coach Anthony Grant,
and Louisiana State Associate Head Coach Butch Pierre have been
identified as potential targets to take the reigns of the East Carolina
program.
WNCT-AM Talk 1070 first
reported the potential candidacy of Dickerson and Grant Thursday
afternoon on Talk of the Town [Replay
Audio Archive], the station's daily drive-time show
hosted by Henry Hinton.
Hinton is also a
regular columnist for
Bonesville.net.
Dickerson has 14 years of
experience overall and has been a member of Gary Williams' staff since
1996. He is a highly-regarded recruiter, having helped Maryland land the
nation's fourth-best recruiting class in 2002 and second best in 2003.
Both Dickerson and Holland
share a common thread with former Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell. A
forward at Maryland from 1986-89, Dickerson served a year as an
assistant to Driesell at James Madison in 1992.
Holland, Driesell's first
recruit at Davidson in 1960, eventually succeeded his old mentor at the
helm of the Wildcats' program and would go on to coach Virginia against
Driesell's Maryland teams in the ACC.
Much like Dickerson, Grant
is viewed as a top-flight recruiter. The Florida assistant has been a
top aide for head coach Billy Donovan for the last 11 years, dating back
to their days at Marshall.
During Grant's Florida
tenure, the Gators have inked eight McDonald's All-Americans.
Pierre has spent the past
seven seasons as John Brady's top lieutenant in Baton Rouge. When Pierre
arrived at LSU, he had a limited number of scholarships to work with but
still was able to restock the roster with the talent that eventually
captured the 2000 Southeastern Conference championship and a trip to the
Sweet 16.
Pierre has already been
contacted by Holland, according to an unofficial source.
Despite speculation that
Holland had already selected Herrion's replacement when he fired the
former Pirates coach, no candidates have been interviewed as of
Thursday. The Pirates AD has spent the past week working the phones and
gathering information about potential successors, according to East
Carolina Director of Media Relations Tom McClellan.
Holland recently contacted
South Carolina coach Dave Odom, a good friend and former assistant, to
get his thoughts on several potential candidates. Among the names
discussed was former Virginia Tech head coach and current South Carolina
assistant Ricky Stokes, a former Holland player and graduate assistant.
The Greenville (SC) News
reported Thursday that Odom gave Holland permission to contact Stokes,
but that the Gamecocks coach was unsure about ECU's interest in the USC
assistant.
No timetable has been
given by Holland for making a hire.
Page updated:
02/23/07 11:44 AM
©2005
Bonesville.net. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Compiled
from
ECU Athletics and staff reports.
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