Combs returns to Division III
| Paul Combs will be a head
coach at a fourth school, three of them in Division
III. Wayne State athletics photo |
Wayne State athletic director Mike Powicki announced that head men's basketball coach Paul Combs has resigned his position at the school and accepted the head men's basketball position at Carroll.
He replaces Dave Buchanan, who resigned earlier in the offseason to become director of basketball operations at Division I Drake.
Combs spent four seasons as head coach at Wayne State, a Division II school in Nebraska, compiling a 54-58 overall record and a 39-47 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. He led the Wildcats to a 17-12 record this past season, going 11-11 in the NSIC. It was the first winning season for the Wildcats since the 2007-08 campaign and the 17 wins were the most by a Wayne State men's basketball team since the 1999-2000 season.
Combs previously spent six years as head men's basketball coach at UW-Platteville, where he went 102-57. He also spent four years at Lakeland, compiling a 60-45 mark with the Muskies.
"My family and I will forever be grateful to the WSC administration for welcoming us into the Wildcat athletic family," said Combs. "After much consideration, the opportunity to move home and have our three young kids be closer to family was a very important factor in our final decision. We leave a WSC team with great returning leadership that is extremely hungry to continue the strong momentum from this past season both on and off the court. We have a community here in Wayne full of close friends with relationships that will last a lifetime."
Combs takes over a Carroll program which went 18-7 under Buchanan this past season, 13-5 in the Midwest Conference.
2008 player of the year named head coach
| Meia Daniels was the 2008 D3hoops.com Player of the Year. |
Howard Payne athletics announced that former D3hoops.com Player of the Year and current women's assistant basketball coach Meia Daniels will take over the reins of the HPU women's basketball program.
Meia Daniels, who has served as an assistant coach last season for Howard Payne, will take over a Lady Jacket program that has had 10 consecutive 20-win seasons and posted fourth American Southwest Conference West Division titles in the past seven years.
She replaces Josh Prock, who recently resigned to become head coach at Division II Eastern New Mexico.
"We are pleased to be able to promote Meia Daniels to our head coaching position as well as our Senior Woman Administrator,” said Howard Payne athletic director Mike Jones. “She has been mentored by two outstanding coaches in Chris Kielsmeier and Josh Prock and was a great collegiate player. She knows how to win and how hard you have to work to be successful at this level. These experiences will serve her well as she enters this new phase of her career."
As a player, Daniels was 109-12 over four seasons leading the Lady Jackets to three American Southwest Conference championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and a Division III national championship in 2008. A 2008 graduate of Howard Payne, Daniels holds numerous HPU and ASC records and is second in career scoring at Howard Payne with 2,118 points.
“I am very excited about being the head women's basketball coach here at Howard Payne University,” said Meia Daniels. “I feel that Howard Payne has been a blessing to me ever since the day I decided to play here nine years ago. Now that I have the opportunity to lead the program it is a great feeling.”
Multiple All-Conference selections, twice named ASC tournament MVP, two-time Regional Player of the Year, two-time All-American and National Player of the Year are among of the numerous honors Daniels received as a player at Howard Payne.
After leaving HPU, Daniels spent two seasons as the women's basketball graduate assistant at Division II Wayne State (Neb.) with Kielsmeier. She helped guide the Wayne State program to a NSIC in 2010 and now intends to do all she can to continue the Lady Jackets' tradition.
At Wayne State, she was an integral part of recruiting high school and junior college players throughout the U.S., helping plan and coordinate practices as well as planning and organizing the team's travel arrangements.
Daniels will now also serve as the Senior Woman Administrator on the HPU athletics staff. Daniels will act as a liaison for women athletes and staff to HPU athletic administration, American Southwest Conference and the NCAA. She will also represent HPU at ASC and NCAA meetings and functions as needed.
Along with her regular duties as the head women's basketball coach, Meia will assist in administrative duties within the athletic department and be a liaison with HPU student life and resident life on student-athlete welfare, discipline issues and on-campus living arrangements.
Daniels graduated from Howard Payne in 2008 with a degree in political science and criminal justice. She continued on and completed a master's in organizational management from Wayne State in 2010.
Marietta assistant hired at Heidelberg
| Bucheit Marietta athletics photo |
Andrew Bucheit has been named head men’s basketball coach
at Heidelberg, replacing Anthony Gholson after the program went
18-33 the past two seasons.
Bucheit joins Heidelberg after serving as an assistant coach at
Marietta for five seasons. He was promoted to associate head coach
in 2012.
Gholson was 53-79 in five seasons.
“We are very pleased that Andy will be leading our
program,” said athletic director Matt Palm. “He has
been part of a winning program that has a proven blueprint to help
move men’s basketball forward. The key factor to that
blueprint is the development of young men academically and
personally.”
Bucheit was a member of the Marietta coach staff that took the
Pioneers from last place to first place in three seasons. He served
as the recruiting coordinator and was the head junior varsity
coach.
“My goal is to create an environment where our
student-athletes relentlessly pursue a competitive edge in all
aspects of their lives,” said Bucheit. “Our program
will be filled with young men who have a strong desire to be the
best students, individuals and athletes they can be.”
As a student-athlete, Bucheit was a four-year letterman at
Wittenberg, where he finished with 951 career points. During his
time at Wittenberg, the Tigers won two North Coast Athletic
Conference titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three
times.
Prior to his stint at Marietta, Bucheit was a graduate assistant
at Ashland, where he earned a master’s degree in sport
education.
Bucheit takes over a Student Prince program that went to the NCAA
Tournament as recently as 2008.
“Heidelberg has a lot of great features – an
attractive campus, strong academic programs and a rich recruiting
area,” said Bucheit. “Our plan is to get basketball at
Heidelberg, a program with a tradition of excellence, back in the
national spotlight.”
Despite taking over a team that lost two 1,000-point scorers (Dane
Givner and Nate Davis) to graduation, Bucheit is eager to get
started.
“The chance to lead the Heidelberg basketball program in the
competitive OAC is a huge thrill,” said Bucheit. “I
want to thank president Rob Huntington, Dean Dustin Brentlinger,
Matt Palm and the search committee for this opportunity. My wife,
Melissa, and I are excited to join the Heidelberg and Tiffin
communities.”