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 Wade O'Connor joins the WCU men's basketball staff from St. Catharine's College in Kentucky. |
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Aug. 15, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina head men's basketball coach Larry Hunter today announced the hiring of Wade O'Connor, the former head coach at St. Catharine (Ky.) College, as his new assistant coach. O'Connor joins fifth-year assistant Anquell McCollum and Andre Gray, who was hired back in April, on Hunter's staff.
O'Connor replaces former associate head coach, Dustin Ford, who left WCU in July to pursue a position at his alma mater, Ohio University.
"We had a terrific pool of very qualified applicants. In fact, all three of the candidates that were interviewed have been not only Division I assistants for number of years, but also were head coaches at the collegiate level," Hunter said. "As the process evolved, Wade O'Connor's name continued to surface. He comes to Western Carolina University very highly recommended. He has Division I coaching and recruiting experiences under some of the game's outstanding mentors."
Hunter added, "He has a wealth of recruiting experience and contacts with AAU programs, high school coaches and junior colleges. He is passionate about the game of basketball and the development of young people. Wade is a quality person and family man who will quickly gain the respect of our players and the Western Carolina University family."
O'Connor comes to Cullowhee from St. Catharine College in Kentucky, where he coached former Catamount forward, Arnold Gore, who graduated back in the spring. In his first year as head coach at St. Catharine, O'Connor helped lead the Patriots to a 23-8 overall record. For the past four seasons, O'Connor led the Patriot Program to a 94-29 overall record.
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Prior to coming to St. Catharine College, O'Connor spent 10 years among the NCAA D-I coaching ranks. From 1994-96, he was a member of Billy Donovan's staff at Marshall University where the Thundering Herd Marshall won the Northern Division Championship of the Southern Conference in 1994-95. Jason Williams, point guard of the 2006 NBA World Champions Miami Heat, was a member of the Marshall team during O'Connor's tenure with the Thundering Herd.
O'Connor then moved to the University of Dayton, from 1996-2000 under current Clemson coach, Oliver Purnell. During the 1997-98 season, the Flyers posted a 21-12 record and earned a bid in the NIT tournament and finished 22-9 with an Atlantic-10 Western Division championship in the 1999-2000 season. Dayton made NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years.
From 2000-04, O'Connor was the recruiting coordinator for Tulane University in Conference USA. During that time, Tulane was the second-most improved teams in victories in the NCAA and the 2002-2003 recruiting class was ranked 29th in the country out of 327 Division I schools. While at Tulane, O'Connor helped develop future NBA player, Linton Johnson, of the Phoenix Suns.
All told, O'Connor has also coached and developed 31 former players who have played professionally in Europe.
Over the past thirteen years, O'Connor has coached with 13 different head coaches, including the likes of Donovan at Marshall, who is currently the head coach of the 2006 and `07 back-to-back NCAA Champion Florida Gators; Purnell at Dayton; Shawn Finney and Dave Dickerson at Tulane; Ron Jirsa and Donnie Jones at Marshall University; and Gregg Marshall at Wichita State, among others.
Western Carolina can officially begin practice on Friday, Oct. 17, and will open the season on Nov. 14 in Storrs, Conn., against the Connecticut Huskies before hosting Toccoa Falls in non-conference action at the Ramsey Center on Nov. 20.
