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Dukes Dispatches
Update 1:30 p.m.: VCU will join the A-10 next season, bringing the league to 15 teams for the 2012-13 season.
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The Atlantic 10 will hold a conference call at 2:30 p.m. to answer questions about news that Virginia Commonwealth will be joining the Atlantic 10, as CBS Sports first reported Monday.
The move is the second major addition in a matter of weeks.
Who knew the A-10 would turn out to be such a winner in the game of conference realignment?
After losing Temple, the league added Butler. After losing Charlotte, they add VCU.
The A-10 will be back to 14 teams, and will now include a pair of newcomers that have run to the Final Four a combined three times in the last few years.
Update 4 p.m.: West Virginia just announced Everhart's hire in a release.
Bob Huggins: “We are really excited to bring Ronnie home. I have always admired the way Ronnie has coached his teams from McNeese State to Northeastern to Duquesne, and the quality of players he has always been able to attract. Ron and I go back some 40 years when I was a player here. Obviously, he will be easily recognized and respected throughout the state of West Virginia.”
Everhart: “Coach Huggins has been a mentor and big brother to me since I was a young kid. I have always admired him and have great respect for him. Coach Huggins is a Hall of Fame coach and an even better person. I’m honored to have this opportunity.”
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Former Duquesne Coach Ron Everhart has accepted an assistant coaching position on Bob
Huggins staff at West Virginia according to a Post-Gazette source.
Everhart, who is originally from Fairmont, W.V., was dismissed by Duquesne March 23 after six years as the head coach.
Everhart and Huggins have had a longstanding relationship. An announcement is likely to come later today.
Everhart went 99-89 in six seasons at Duquesne, and 46-50 in regular season Atlantic 10 play.
He took over the program in 2006, and is credited with bringing it back to respectability in his time at the helm.
Donovon Jack is officially out of reach for Duquesne.
The former Dukes recruit signed his NLI today to attend Penn State next year and play for the Nittany Lions.
Coach Patrick Chambers said he is "fired up" about the addition of the 6-foot-9, 205 pound forward.
“We are fired up to have Donovon join the Penn State family,” Chambers said in a statement. “He’s a 6-9, extremely athletic player with a high basketball IQ. Donovon is very skilled; he can shoot, handle the ball and really gets off the floor. He can do a lot of things for us in the front court.”
Donovon Jack will sign with Penn State on Thursday, according to his high school coach Snip Esterly.
Jack verbally committed to the Nittany Lions on Wednesday night said Esterly.
“He really liked Coach (Patrick) Chambers, Penn State itself, the Big Ten. I think the whole package was just a great fit for him,” said Esterly.
Jack, a 6-foot-9 center, was a prized commit for Duquesne - and one of of two who were granted releases from their national letter of intent following the firing of Ron Everhart in March.
Jack committed to Duquesne back in November and had a strong relationship with Everhart.
Butler will join the Atlantic 10 starting with the the 2013-14 season, the school and conference announced officially today.
Will have reaction later from Duquesne officials, but this is widely considered a score for the conference after losing Temple to the Big East.
Butler, of course, has made some incredible runs in the NCAA tourney in recent years, reaching the Final Four in both 2010 and 2011.
The Bulldogs have been to the tournament in five of the last six years and have advanced past the first weekend three times.
In its history, Butler has reached the tournament 11 times and advanced to the Sweet 16 or further five times.
Statement from A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade:
“Welcoming Butler University as the newest member of the Atlantic 10 Conference is an honor and privilege. Institutionally, they are a perfect fit for the league and bring a tradition of excellence in academics, athletics, integrity and personnel. As a conference driven by national prominence in men’s basketball, Butler further strengthens our league. Complementing their success in men’s basketball is a broad-based sports program that will compete well in the A-10.”
Of Note:
Duquesne and Butler were both members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1992-93, Duquesne’s lone season as a non-member of the Atlantic 10.
The team’s split 1-1 that year.
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Links:
Click here to read Butler's release.