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.

See story at The Gadsden Times's website: www.gadsdentimes.com .

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