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Billy Kennedy Named 14th Head Basketball Coach at Murray State

Murray State University announced the hiring of Billy Kennedy as their new men's basketball coach at an 11 a.m. press conference this morning. Kennedy replaces Mick Cronin who resigned three weeks ago to take over the program at Cincinnati.

“I wanted the complete package and I think I found that,” MSU athletic director Allen Ward said.

“I wanted someone who had a reputation as a great recruiter, because as everyone knows the lifeblood of this program is the players.

“I also wanted someone who knew what he was doing on the floor and whose players would be well prepared. Last year our team was known for being hard nosed and well prepared and I wanted a coach who could continue that.

“I didn't want someone who just paid lip service to academic success. I wanted someone who would send the right message to our student athletes. And I think I found all of that. What I didn't expect was to find someone who had eight years of head coaching experience.”

Kennedy comes to Murray State after six years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and one season as an assistant at the University of Miami (Fla.).

In his final two seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, Kennedy guided the Lions to a 44-18 record, two Southland Conference regular season titles and the school’s first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Following the 2005 season, Kennedy was named Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches, and was honored as the District 8 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, marking the second consecutive season he was honored by all three organizations.

“Murray State basketball speaks for itself,” Kennedy said. “Coach (Ron) Greene started it all and I'm glad that he's here today. And then guys like Scott Edgar, Mark Gottfried, Tevester Anderson and Mick Cronin built on that.

“The job Mick Cronin did in the three years he was here was tremendous. His players had the reputation of being a hard working team that played great defense. And I don't want to change any of that. I think that would be a big mistake.

“They way they played is the way we'll play, particularly on defense. At Southeast Louisiana we held a team to 11 points in one half. I'm awfully proud of that and I'd like to accomplish the same thing here.”

On offense Kennedy's approach will be similar to that employed by Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State – attack in transition when you have the numbers, work for a good shot when you don't.

The first step Kennedy will take toward continuing the winning tradition at MSU involves the players who are already on campus.

“The first thing I need to do is get a good feel for where our guys are academically and make them feel comfortable with us,” he said. “And then we'll re-recruit the guys who have already signed here. We want all of them.

“I met with the team around five or six o'clock last night and then I called all four of the recruits who signed last fall. Daniel Ard is here today. I didn't recruit him, but he's excited to be at Murray State University. And that makes my job easy.

“We'll be re-recruiting the other three kids and I hope to be able to get out and see them next week. We need to keep all of them because they're already sold.”

Kennedy will have the help of Racer senior Shawn Witherspoon as he goes about convincing Brandon Evans, Jay-R Strowbridge and Curtis Parker that Murray State is still the right place for them.

“I'm definitely excited about coach Kennedy,” Witherspoon said. “But I knew we would get somebody good. I trust Allen Ward and Darron Boatright.

“I have the numbers of all the players who signed last fall and I've been trying to stay in contact with them. I'm going to call them all today and let them know about the coach and how excited I am about having him here.

Having coached in Louisiana and Florida, Kennedy should be able to continue the success that Murray State has had in recruiting players from the mid-south.

“We'll recruit heavily in Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky,” he said. “I'm familiar with this area and I've recruited here for over 20 years now. That's one of the things that attracted me to the job. I have a lot of contacts in the area and that's how you get players.”

Of course, the Racers have room to sign at least one more prospect this spring.

But with the signing period starting today they won't have much time to find players who aren't already committed. Fortunately, Kennedy won't be starting from scratch.

“I have my hands on a few guys that we'll recruit,” he said. “Although we don't have much time the tradition of success Murray State has will work in our favor.

“Most junior college kids are still available. Most high school kids sign early or are signing today. We'll get the best kids we can but it's more likely that they'll be junior college kids this year.”

“In future years we'll just recruit the best players we can get. We'd love for them to be high school kids but it really depends on who's available and what we need. I won't sign a junior college kid unless I think he can start or be a major contributor.”

Kennedy is the 14th head coach in the 80 year history of the program.

Information & photo courtesy GoRacers.com and Murray State Athletics

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