Wednesday, March 30, 2011

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh announced the hiring of Florida State assistant coach Andy Enfield as the second-ever Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball head coach on Wednesday afternoon during an official press conference held in the Alico Arena hospitality suite.

“It is with great pleasure that we welcome Andy, Amanda, and the rest of the Enfield family into FGCU, Southwest Florida, and our Eagles’ athletics family,” said Kavanagh. “A quality individual, Andy is a proven winner and brings to FGCU a tremendous wealth of experience and coaching success, on the both the collegiate and professional ranks.

“In particular, he possesses a background of demonstrated commitment to excellence both on the court and in the classroom. In turn, we look forward to him providing energized daily leadership to our student-athletes, quickly getting engaged with our growing fan base and rapidly putting us in pursuit of the upper echelon of the Atlantic Sun Conference and beyond.”

Enfield, who helped lead FSU to the last three NCAA Tournaments, including the Sweet 16 last week, will lead FGCU into its 10th season in program history and its first postseason eligible campaign.

Enfield joined head coach Leonard Hamilton’s staff at Florida State in 2006. The Seminoles appearances in the last three NCAA Tournaments were the program’s first since 1998, as they accumulated 31 wins in ACC action over that span – second-most behind Duke – and advanced to the program’s first-ever ACC championship game in 2009. With three straight 20-win seasons to its credit, FSU advanced to the 2011 Sweet 16 in the Southwest Region by defeating No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 2 Notre Dame in Chicago.

Recruiting and player development were chief among Enfield’s responsibilities at FSU where its current roster boasts 11 top 100 recruits and a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans. In 2009, Basketball Times named Enfield the nation’s “Most Visible Assistant Coach” for the summer recruiting period, while ESPN The Magazine donned him one of “Five Super Assistant Coaches in College Basketball” during the 2008-09 campaign. Enfield’s prowess on the recruiting trails helped the Seminoles produce three straight top 25 classes, highlighted by the 2008 group that ranked in the top 10.

A former NBA assistant with the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, Enfield’s influence helped FSU develop five NBA draft picks over the last five seasons. Al Thornton (2007) and Toney Douglas (2009) were both selected in the first round and earned All-American status over a three-year span.

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