Former Kansas Men’s Assistant Basketball Coach Joe Dooley, new Head Coach of Florida Gulf Coast University Men’s Basketball
Two years ago, FGCU handed over the reins to arguably the most-important team on campus to an outside coach with glowing references and credentials but scant name recognition. It worked so well the Eagles tapped the same well again.
Long-time University of Kansas assistant coach Joe Dooley, 47, a West Orange, N.J., native who played at St. Benedict’s High School in New Jersey and George Washington University before ultimately helping Kansas win a national championship in 2008, was announced as the new FGCU coach Wednesday.
In replacing former FGCU coach Andy Enfield, who took a job with Southern California on April 1 after only seasons in Southwest Florida, FGCU bypassed one of Enfield’s former assistants, Marty Richter, in favor of a more-seasoned coach with head-coaching experience.
Bypassed for the FGCU job was Richter, 36, the second assistant to Enfield for two seasons before spending a little more than the past two weeks as the FGCU interim coach.
“It wasn’t really what Marty didn’t possess. It’s what coach Dooley is bringing to FGCU,” said FGCU athletic director Ken Kavanagh, citing his 4 years coaching successfully at Division I, Kansas.
“This isn’t about one person,” Dooley said. “This is about the program and the team moving forward and continuing what they’ve built. We’re all in this together. Hopefully they’re as excited as I am.”
(h/t - Fort Myers (Florida) News Press)
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