JMU names Keener as new coach

Current Georgia Tech assistant coach to give press conference Wednesday

The search for a new men’s basketball coach is over. Dean Keener was named the Dukes’ new coach last Thursday night.

Keener, an assistant coach with Georgia Tech, currently is in San Antonio, Texas, where the Yellow Jackets will play in the NCAA championship game against the University of Connecticut tonight. Georgia Tech eliminated Oklahoma State University Saturday in the semifinals of the Final Four.

Keener agreed to a five-year contract that will pay an annual base salary of $160,000 with additional $35,000 for radio and television plus bonus incentives. He replaces Sherman Dillard, who resigned under pressure March 7.

“I’m extremely excited. I’m living a dream of sorts professionally,” Keener said Friday. “I think I understand the culture of JMU and, more importantly, things relative to the basketball program.”

A press conference to introduce Keener is scheduled for next Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the Convocation Center.

“Dean Keener is an outstanding fit for the criteria we’ve been seeking in a coach for our basketball program,” athletic director Jeff Bourne said in a statement Thursday night.

Keener is in his fourth season with Georgia Tech. He was an assistant coach under Dillard at JMU during the 1999-’00 season. Before his brief stint with the Dukes, he was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech (1991-’95, 1997-’99), Southern Methodist University (1995-’97) and the University of Southern California (1990-’91).

“Dean’s had the good fortune of being able to mentor with and have peers who have done extremely well in this industry,” Bourne said. “With his prior experience at JMU and his strong connections throughout the state of Virginia, I think he makes an excellent choice.”

Keener said he was contacted about three weeks ago by Bourne and Charlie King, vice president of administration and finance.

“We visited in Atlanta for a couple of hours,” Keener said. “We were just getting into this NCAA Tournament run.”

Keener also said he visited with JMU president Linwood Rose about two weeks ago.

“At that time, I felt pretty comfortable that it could be the right situation for me,” Keener said of JMU. “But if people didn’t send me things or ask me about it, I really wasn’t thinking about it. My focus truly was on Georgia Tech basketball.”

Keener said he told the Georgia Tech players he was taking the JMU position Thursday night at a team gathering. He said they took the news well and said they would treat him as if he were a senior on the team about to play his last college game.

He also talked with the JMU players by phone for about 10 minutes Thursday.

“I just wanted to tell them how excited I was, and that I don’t believe in a rebuilding situation — we’re going to win now,” Keener said. “But we’ve got some work to do.”

He said he and the players will have a team meeting Wednesday or Thursday.

Keener, 38, graduated from Davidson College in 1988 where he served as the team captain and was a member of the 1986 NCAA Tournament team.

Keener is married to his wife, Meg, and the couple has two children, a daughter named Julie and a son named Kyle.

“We’re proud and pleased to welcome Dean Keener back to the James Madison University family,” Rose said in a statement Thursday. “He knows our university and is an outstanding individual who has demonstrated a high level of coaching and recruiting skills at a number of top-level basketball programs. We look forward to his leading the JMU Dukes to new levels of excellence and regenerating the enthusiasm of our fans.”

Keener was one of four coaches on JMU’s list of candidates, which also included former University of North Carolina coach Matt Doherty, North Carolina State University assistant coach Larry Hunter and Clemson University assistant coach Ron Bradley.

Doherty was offered the job last week, but turned it down to pursue other coaching openings.

In a statement issued last Thursday, Doherty said, “I was very impressed with JMU, their commitment to heighten their basketball program, as well as their overall dedication to academic excellence … Ultimately, I know JMU basketball will be very successful. I can’t thank Dr. Rose, Jeff Bourne and Charlie King enough. That being said, I feel it’s best for my family and me to explore other opportunities.”

Not being the first candidate to receive an offer didn’t bother Keener.

“Regardless, I don’t care if I’m the first or second choice — I’m just happy to be the final choice, and I’m anxious to prove I’m the right choice,” he said.

“Like most people, I’m competitive and I want to win right away,” he added.