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KSU begins search to replace Christian

By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sportswriter

POSTED: 05:38 p.m. EDT, Mar 29, 2008

Not long after Texas Christian University made it official late Saturday afternoon that Jim Christian had become its new head basketball coach, Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy began the process of finding Christian's replacement.

Christian, a two-time Mid-American Conference coach of the year, became the Horned Frogs' 19th head coach, taking over for Neil Dougherty, who was fired earlier this month after six seasons.

''The last six years have been an incredible run under Jim, and we have every intention of keeping the jewel of our athletic program moving forward,'' Kennedy said.

Kennedy is in Houston serving on a committee that oversees regional play for the NCAA basketball tournament and won't be back in Kent until Monday afternoon. But he is wasting no time.

''I'm working on it as we speak,'' Kennedy said on a cell phone in Texas. ''We're in the process of putting together a pretty good list right now.''

With Christian's input, Kennedy said the process will begin with a ''pretty wide funnel,'' then end up being ''a short list''' of prospects who will be brought to campus for interviews.

''We'll start bringing (candidates) in as soon as we can efficiently, but we don't want to rush it, either,'' Kennedy said. ''We have what we believe is the premiere program in the MAC, and there's no reason we can't continue to move our program even further. We want to make sure we find the right person to do that.''

Some possible candidates are current Kent State assistant coach Geno Ford, University of Oklahoma assistant coach Oronde Taliaferro and, perhaps, former University of Toledo coach Stan Joplin.

Ford began his second stint with the Golden Flashes this past season, his fourth overall. In between, he spent two seasons as head coach at Muskingham College. Before leaving KSU, Ford served on Christian's staff for three seasons beginning in 2002.

''We will consider all options, but I hold Geno in high regard,'' Kennedy said. ''He has done an outstanding job here as an assistant.''

Ford, a Cambridge native, enjoyed an outstanding high school career that included being named Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 1993. The standout guard then played at Ohio University, where he also later began his coaching career as a graduate assistant.

Taliaferro, a former KSU assistant, spent five seasons under former Flashes coach Stan Heath at Arkansas before leaving to take a similar position at Oklahoma this past season. His ties to Kent State came during the 2001-02 season in which he served under Heath during the Flashes' Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament.

''Like Geno, Oronde understands our conference and what it takes to win here,'' Kennedy said.

Joplin, a former Rockets player and assistant coach, was recently fired at Toledo after 12 seasons, including just one year after being named the MAC's coach of the year. He had a 203-155 overall record with the Rockets, and he had signed a three-year extension in 2006 that would have taken through the completion of next season.

Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.

Not long after Texas Christian University made it official late Saturday afternoon that Jim Christian had become its new head basketball coach, Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy began the process of finding Christian's replacement.

Christian, a two-time Mid-American Conference coach of the year, became the Horned Frogs' 19th head coach, taking over for Neil Dougherty, who was fired earlier this month after six seasons.

''The last six years have been an incredible run under Jim, and we have every intention of keeping the jewel of our athletic program moving forward,'' Kennedy said.

Kennedy is in Houston serving on a committee that oversees regional play for the NCAA basketball tournament and won't be back in Kent until Monday afternoon. But he is wasting no time.

''I'm working on it as we speak,'' Kennedy said on a cell phone in Texas. ''We're in the process of putting together a pretty good list right now.''

With Christian's input, Kennedy said the process will begin with a ''pretty wide funnel,'' then end up being ''a short list''' of prospects who will be brought to campus for interviews.

''We'll start bringing (candidates) in as soon as we can efficiently, but we don't want to rush it, either,'' Kennedy said. ''We have what we believe is the premiere program in the MAC, and there's no reason we can't continue to move our program even further. We want to make sure we find the right person to do that.''

Some possible candidates are current Kent State assistant coach Geno Ford, University of Oklahoma assistant coach Oronde Taliaferro and, perhaps, former University of Toledo coach Stan Joplin.

Ford began his second stint with the Golden Flashes this past season, his fourth overall. In between, he spent two seasons as head coach at Muskingham College. Before leaving KSU, Ford served on Christian's staff for three seasons beginning in 2002.

''We will consider all options, but I hold Geno in high regard,'' Kennedy said. ''He has done an outstanding job here as an assistant.''

Ford, a Cambridge native, enjoyed an outstanding high school career that included being named Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 1993. The standout guard then played at Ohio University, where he also later began his coaching career as a graduate assistant.

Taliaferro, a former KSU assistant, spent five seasons under former Flashes coach Stan Heath at Arkansas before leaving to take a similar position at Oklahoma this past season. His ties to Kent State came during the 2001-02 season in which he served under Heath during the Flashes' Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament.

''Like Geno, Oronde understands our conference and what it takes to win here,'' Kennedy said.

Joplin, a former Rockets player and assistant coach, was recently fired at Toledo after 12 seasons, including just one year after being named the MAC's coach of the year. He had a 203-155 overall record with the Rockets, and he had signed a three-year extension in 2006 that would have taken through the completion of next season.

Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.



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