Green Chosen as New JSU Basketball Coach

Special to The Times
Published April 21, 2008

Reprinted here in its entirety.

JACKSONVILLE — James Green has been named Jacksonville State University’s basketball coach, University President Dr. William A. Meehan and Athletics Director Jim Fuller announced Saturday night.

Green, who becomes Jacksonville State’s 10th coach in school history, has 11 years of experience as a head coach at the Divison I level. He has spent the last three at Mississippi Valley State and eight previous years at Southern Miss.

“I was very impressed with all four finalists, but one just seemed to stand out among the others,” said Dr. Meehan. “I believe Coach Green is the person to lead our men’s basketball program and make us more competitive in the Ohio Valley Conference. I like his academic structure and his discipline policies, and his years as a head coach at the Division I level were also an advantage for him.”

The other three coaches interviewed for the job were Charles Burkett, Philip Pearson and Tim Maloney.

Green led the Delta Devils to the 2006-07 Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title and the 2007-08 SWAC Tournament championship and made an appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year in 2006-07 season after guiding the Delta Devils to a 13-5 league mark.

“I’m very excited and honored to be a part of such a fine university,” Green said. “I look forward to working with Coach Fuller and the entire athletic department. I’m also looking forward to working with Dr. Meehan and the faculty and staff at Jacksonville State.”

Prior to MVSU, Green served as the head coach at Southern Mississippi for eight seasons, a stretch that saw him post a 123-109 record and earn Conference USA Coach of the Year accolades in 2001. He led the Golden Eagles to the C-USA regular season crown and a spot in the NIT.

“I’m looking forward to helping our team become more competitive in the Ohio Valley Conference, but more importantly, becoming good citizens and having a good life after basketball,” added Green. “I realize there are challenges and I’m willing to accept those as the leader of the men’s basketball program.”

Green had three stints as a Division I assistant before moving to Southern Miss, serving two seasons each at Idaho, Texas A&M and Alabama, respectively.

“Coach Green brings academic structure and discipline, along with a very good work ethic,” said Fuller. “The many years he has spent as a head coach is an added bonus. I was very impressed with his ability to communicate with every individual that I introduced him to during the course of his day when he was here for his interview.”

Both Dr. Meehan and Fuller were very pleased with the work of the search committee.

“I want to thank Dr. Joe Delap and all the members of the search committee for their hard work during this entire process,” said Dr. Meehan. “They did an excellent job and submitted four very good finalists from which to choose our next basketball coach.

Fuller agreed with the process and the results from the committee.

“I do believe the process we went through, as far as search committee, was as good as it could have possibly could’ve been,” Fuller said. “They sent to the President, myself and the Board of Trustees four excellent candidates.”

A press conference has been scheduled for Wednesday to formally introduce Green on the Jacksonville State University campus.

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