Friday, October 08, 2010

MACON, Ga. - Fox Sport's writer Jeff Goodman compiled a list of the top assistants for men's basketball in the Atlantic Sun Conference with Belmont's Casey Alexander at the top of the rankings.

Here are his rankings:

1.) Casey Alexander, Belmont - Alexander played at Belmont and has been on Rick Byrd’s staff for the past 15 years – including the last eight as the associate head coach. "He’s a competitive, intelligent guy and the thing I value about him is his ability to maintain a great balance between being loyal and not being afraid to challenge me. That’s difficult to do because head coaches have egos and think we’re always right. Some don’t want guys telling them when they’re wrong, but Casey’s not afraid to do it – and he does it the right way.” – Belmont coach Rick Byrd.

2.) Bobby Kennan, North Florida - Kennen, a veteran of the A-Sun having also served stints at Campbell (2005-09) and Jacksonville (2000-05), was tabbed the No. 2-rated assistant in the league. “We are blessed to have such an experienced and top notch staff here at UNF,” said North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll. “Coach Kennen exudes all the qualities that our program stands for such as trust, loyalty, commitment, diligence and above all competitive spirit. Every day he is striving to be better. This is a well-deserved honor voted on by your peers which makes it even more meaningful. I am thrilled to have Coach Kennen as part of the UNF Basketball family.”

3.) Scott Wagers, ETSU - Scott Wagers enters his 10th season as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State University, having seen the Bucs win four straight Southern Conference North Division Championships (2000-2004), two straight SoCon Tournament titles (2003 & 2004), two Atlantic Sun Conference championships (2007 & 2009), and make three trips to the NCAA Tournament (2003, 2004 & 2009), and earn a berth in the NIT (2007). “Keeping Scott Wagers on staff was crucial when we made the transition in coaching staffs six years ago,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. “Scott is an excellent coach with great recruiting ties and a talent for working with our post players.”

4.) Jay Walton, Lipscomb - Walton, a former standout at Mississippi State and a member of the 1996 Final Four team, is entering his 14th season as an assistant for Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson. Walton worked with Sanderson for two seasons at Mobile before making the move to Lipscomb where Sanderson is starting his 12th season. “Jay touches every part of our program from recruiting to coaching to scheduling to monitoring players academically,” Sanderson said. “I can go on-and-on about what he does.

t-5.) Shaun Senters, Lipscomb - Senters has been working with Sanderson for 11 seasons. He is a former player at Lipscomb. “Shaun understands the school and the impact it had on his life,” Sanderson said, “He understood the school more than I did when I first got here. It is good to know that I can go out of town and recruit or whatever I need to do because Shaun is here doing what needs to be done with our players,” Sanderson said. “Sometimes Shaun is a friend to the players off of the floor.”

t-5.) Mike Boyd, ETSU - Boyd has a wealth of coaching experience at the collegiate level, after having spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State from 1996 to 2003, and also serving as an assistant coach at Michigan, for 11 seasons from 1979 to 1990. In addition, Boyd also enjoyed a head coaching stint at Cleveland State from 1990 to 1996. After those six seasons at Cleveland State – which included a 22-6 record and Mid-Continent Conference championship in 1992-93 – Boyd joined the staff at Penn State in 1996.

"We are fortunate to have Mike on our staff,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. “He is incredibly experienced as an assistant and head coach at the Division I level, and he has numerous contacts across the country because of his 18 years as an assistant in the Big Ten.”