On a vote of 11-4 Friday, the Southern University System Board of Supervisors approved Central State University’s men’s basketball head coach Michael Grant as the new men’s basketball coach.”…I am going to take a lot of pride in this, I am going to take a lot of pride in the university and we’re going to make sure that this basketball team plays hard…” said Grant after hearing the board’s final consensus.Grant leaves the helm at CSU where his Mauraders combined a 126-94 record during his six-year tenure.They finished last season with a 23-11 record and went to the second round of the 2000 NAIA Division I National Tournament.”I am recommending Grant because I believe that he is the person that Southern needs right now,” said Southern University-Baton Rouge Chancellor Edward Jackson in an earlier statement. “He has a commendable record, he is an excellent disciplinarian and has an excellent record as a coach.”During former head coach Ben Jobe’s first coaching stint on “The Bluff” in the late 1980’s and early ’90’s, he had a 193-101 record and led the Jags to the NCAA tourney four times and once to the NIT tournament.Now, Grant is replacing Jobe after his second yet, unsuccessful tenure where the team suffered two consecutive 20-game losing seasons and a paltry 16-40 record. As Grant addressed the board, he stressed that he wanted to bring respectability back to the rich basketball tradition that Southern had once possessed. Such tradition produced players such as current player Avery Johnson, the late Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phils and former Chicago Bulls forward Bob “Butterbean” Love.”I want to put this program back on the map…and the way that we are going to do this is by winning games,” said Grant.With the 11-4 vote on the 15-member board, Grant was not surprised by the opposing votes.”Well, that’s fine…that’s all a part of it. I think that any time you make a decision in picking a football or basketball coach, and the board has that approval, you’re going to have people who are not going to be in your corner the whole way…” said Grant. “…I have to win those people over…I have to come in and now that I am the basketball coach, I hope that the ones who didn’t vote for me surround me and give me all the support that I need…”The fact that Grant has a 90% graduation rate has not been enough to win over Johnny Anderson, one of the four opposing board members.”I don’t think it was the right choice,” said Anderson. “I don’t think he is right for the university to get our program where it needs to be.Nonetheless, Grant plans on being settled in Baton Rouge by July 1 and says that he is bringing in a new staff. As far as Dale Valdery and Lee Carney (the two assistant coaches who served under Jobe) are concerned, Grant said that he has not heard from them since his recommendation so consequently, he did not know if they wanted to stay or be a part of his staff. Once his staff is assembled, he will begin calling schools to see who is still available to be recruited.”I want to give everyone an opportunity to be a part of what we are doing.”Whoever plays for Southern will definitely be playing for a defensively oriented team. Grant stressed that he wants his team to make scoring difficult for all opponents.He also said that the current team members were excited to meet him and have expressed their support.Grant knows that he will be filling in big shoes as the new coach, but he is not swayed and is ready to step up to the challenge.”…Ben Jobe is a legend and he is a hall of famer…” said the incumbent. “But I feel that I can win and winning cures a lot of things.”
