Starting at the beginning of this past week, the Pacific University athletic department will begin its search for a permanent head coach for both men’s and women’s basketball programs.
This past season, after unexpected resigns from Tim Cleary and Jennifer Mountain, Athletic Director Ken Schumann named Jerod Gibson the interim head coach for the men and Larry Davis the interim head coach for the women for the 2017-18 season.
Gibson served as the assistant head coach for four years prior to this season and Davis also spent four years in the assistant head coach position. Both were also the head coaches for the junior varsity programs during their times as assistants.
In their first years, Gibson guided the men to a 12-13 record, 6-10 in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and Davis led the women to a 5-19 record, 4-12 in the NWC.
While it may not have been the results each team was looking for, Schumann was appreciative of the roles both coaches filled this season.
“It is always a difficult thing being an interim,” Schumann said. “I believe both worked real hard and there were some good things both of them did this year. Not everything in the records showed up in both teams, but I think there was a lot of good work put in by both coaches and I appreciate their efforts very much.”
The department began their national search this past week for the open position for both the men and women’s programs.
Schumann expects the university to attract many top candidates as he himself spent many years on the coaching staff for the basketball team at Pacific, in which he made connections with others around the league.
The search committee is expected to make its decision in 6-8 weeks to find its future head coaches for the university’s basketball programs.
“We’re focused on the two head coaching positions and doing a thorough search,” Schumann said. “We want to find the best coaches we can and I think we will do that.”
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