HPU picks Cherry
HPU athletic director Craig Keilitz named Scott Cherry head coach of the men’s basketball team.
This will be Cherry’s first time at the helm of a program and he becomes the 11th head coach in HPU. He was an assistant at University of South Carolina this past season. He also made coaching stops at George Mason, Western Kentucky and Tennessee Tech.
“Sometimes you just feel it is right and I knew it was right from the beginning,” Cherry said.
Keilitz outlined what he was looking for in a head coach including ethics, concern for the student athlete as well as a winner.
“He’s won every place he’s been, and that’s no coincidence,” Keilitz said at the press conference.
Cherry has never had a losing season in his 14 years involved in college basketball. He has been in postseason play in ten seasons, including a national championship as a player at UNC under Dean Smith.
He was an assistant at George Mason during their improbable run to the Final Four in 2006. Cherry also helped Western Kentucky march to the Sweet 16 in last year. This year’s South Carolina team made it to the NIT before being bested by Davidson.
Cherry admitted, “There’s big expectations and there should be. [Winning] can be done here. There’s no question about it.” He continued, “I want to win now and we are going to win now.”
HPU has only been to one Big South Championship game, which happened in former coach Bart Lundy’s first year in 2004. HPU has never made it to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. In the last ten seasons, HPU has won 18 or more games twice. Cherry has won 18 or more games in nine seasons.
The terms of the contract were not released but his contract is a four-year minimum deal with a buyout encouraging Cherry to stay the length of the deal. Keilitz said, “There is no way he’s leaving. I tell you that.”
Cherry takes over a maturing basketball team with everyone eligible to return except for Melvin Crowder. Gene Harris returns just nine points short of 1,000 for his career total. Nick Barbour is coming off of a stellar freshman campaign with Big South All-Freshman honors and averaged 14.2 points per game. David Singleton started every game in his first year with 4.8 assists per game.
On the post Cruz Daniels almost doubled his career points this past year while averaging 8.1 rebounds a game and blocking a school record 83 shots. Steadman Short averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. Jourdan Morris put up similar numbers with 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per clip.
Cherry will immediately begin searching for assistant coaches as well as spring workouts with the team.
More information will follow in the paper edition of the Campus Chronicle on Friday, March 26. You can listen to the entire press conference here.
March Madness
As promised on SportsTalk with Bryan and Mike, here at the brackets for the March Madness competition. Bryan and Mike still have not agreed upon a punishment for the loser. Have ideas? E-mail them to hpuradio@highpoint.edu or leave them as a comment on here!
Lundy fired after 9-21 mark
Only six days after the season ended, Bart Lundy has been dismissed as head coach of the men’s basketball program.
“Our desire and commitment to build a successful and championship-caliber basketball program are very strong,” said athletic director Craig Keilitz in a press release on www.highpointpanthers.com. Read more
HPU ends season at Radford
High Point University’s men’s basketball team fell to top-seeded Radford University 82-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament.
HPU (9-21) could not stop the inside presence allowing Radford (19-11) to score 38 points in the paint. In the second half, High Point also shot a dismal 11-for-35 from the floor for 31.4 percent. Read more
