Article published April 04, 2008
Assistants line up for chance at UT
Gard, Jackson among interested
By MAUREEN FULTON
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
If the University of Toledo wants to fill its men's basketball coach opening with a highly regarded assistant coach from a top program, plenty around the country have shown interest.
As teams have been eliminated from the NCAA tournament over the past few weeks, several of their assistant coaches have sent resumes to UT.
At the top of the list is Greg Gard, an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin. Gard, who has coached under Bo Ryan for 15 years at two schools, has been named one of the nation's top assistants by two publications. The Badgers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen this year.
Also, University of Michigan assistant coach Mike Jackson, a former UT assistant, has applied. Jackson was an assistant at UT from 2001-03 and has also worked in the Dayton and Detroit-Mercy programs. The Detroit Free Press reported Jackson, a Detroit native, is a candidate for the Detroit-Mercy coach opening.
Other assistant coach applicants whose teams won games in the NCAA tournament this year were Gene Cross at Notre Dame, Robert Kirby at Mississippi State and Matthew Graves at Butler. Tom Richardson, a former head coach at Illinois
State currently an assistant at Vanderbilt, has also applied.Thirty-six people have formally applied so far for the men's basketball coaching opening, The Blade learned from a public records request. There is ample interest around the Midwest, as Jay Price, an Illinois assistant, has applied. Craig Neal, New Mexico's associate head coach who is from Indiana, is an applicant.
A Toledo native, Central Michigan assistant Darren Kohne, has applied. Kohne earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from UT and has been at CMU for two years. Former UT star Steve Mix has also applied.
Gard has spent his entire career in Wisconsin, coaching at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin-Platteville before moving to Madison.
Rivals.com named Gard one of the top 25 assistants in the nation last year. Basketball Times also called him an up-and-coming assistant.
Cross is a Chicago native and got his master's degree at Ohio State. He was named one of Rivals.com's top 25 recruiters in college basketball in 2005.
Price has been an assistant in the Big Ten for 15 years, with 10 years at Purdue before going to Illinois. Kirby, the top assistant at Mississippi State, has helped the Bulldogs average 20 wins over the past 10 years.
Graves, an Indiana native, has been an assistant at Butler since 2003 and also played there. In three appearances in the NCAA tournament and two in the NIT in his tenure, the Bulldogs have advanced past the first round all five times.
Neal was on Steve Alford's staff for three years at Iowa before going to New Mexico with him last season. He was a scout and assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors for nine years. Richardson had a 54-64 record in four years at Illinois State and has been at Vanderbilt since 2003.
Contact Maureen Fulton at: mfulton@theblade.com or 419-724-6160.
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