ABILENE, Texas - McMurry University's basketball squads made additions to their coaching staffs for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year. Men's head coach Matt Garnett added his former high school coach Kenny Hoffpauir and former Cooper High School and Texas A&M-Kingsville graduate assistant David Kemp. Women's head coach Veronica Snow replaced Rusty Rainbolt with California native Jeff Tuckness.
Garnett, who was named the men's head coach following McMurry's 2009-2010 season after Ron Holmes resigned after 20 years at the helm, hired Hoffpauir who coached him as a prep player at Glen Rose high school in Glen Rose. The reunion follows a short stint at Southwestern University as an assistant coach in Georgetown and a high school head-coaching career that saw Hoffpauir accumulate 582 career victories between California, Louisiana and Texas.
“I'm very pleased to have Coach Hoffpauir join our staff,” said Garnett. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program both on and off the court. It is great to be back together with him again.”
Kemp also joins Garnett and Hoffpauir on the coaching staff. Kemp, the Abilene native, spent the last season as a graduate assistant for NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville on staff with former McMurry assistant Kent McClure. Kemp is a graduate of the University of Texas and also spent time as the varsity assistant coach at Hope Christian School in Albuquerque, N.M. where he helped head coach Jim Murphy win his sixth title in 10 years in 2009.
“I'm very excited for Coach Kemp to join us here at McMurry,” Garnett said. “He is a tireless recruiter whose enthusiasm and work ethic will be a great addition to the program. He will do a tremendous job for us.”
After Rainbolt accepted a head-coaching job within the American Southwest Conference at Concordia-Texas following last season, Snow found Tuckness to fill the void.
Tuckness comes to McMurry after many successful seasons at both the high school and college levels. Tuckness' most recent college coaching job was at Biola University in Los Angeles. As the top men's assistant basketball coach, he played a pivotal role in the success of its basketball program. During his three years at Biola, Tuckness was part of two NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament runs that reached both the semi and quarter-finals respectively. Tuckness recruited five all-Conference players and five NAIA all-Americans to Biola during his tenure.
“Coach Tuckness will be a great asset to our program,” said Snow. “He is extremely personable and knowledgeable and will be a great fit at McMurry.”
McMurry's men finished with a 17-9 record in 2009-2010 and made a trip to the ASC Tournament while the women's team advance to the ASC championship game and finished with an 18-10 record.
