After two seasons in which he managed to lead Chattanooga to 40 wins (27-7 in SoCon play), Will Wade decided to accept the head coaching position at VCU last week. And it hasn’t taken the Chattanooga leadership a long time to find Wade’s replacement, as it was reported by Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com Sunday afternoon that Florida assistant Matt McCall will take over.
McCall’s spent the last four seasons on Billy Donovan’s staff in Gainesville, where he contributed to two SEC champion teams (2013 and 2014) and a Final Four berth in 2014. And according to his bio, during those two seasons Florida went 23-4 in games in which McCall was given the task of preparing the scouting report on the opposition.
McCall has also been praised for his ability as a recruiter during his coaching career, and prior to joining the Florida staff he spent three seasons working under Mike Jarvis at Florida Atlantic.
If McCall can keep the remaining players on board, the pieces are there for a successful debut season in 2015-16. Three of Chattanooga’s top four scorers from last season have eligibility remaining, led by forwards Casey Jones and Justin Tuoyo and guard Greg Pryor.
Jones and Tuoyo were also Chattanooga’s leading rebounders in 2013-14, with both being first team All-SoCon selections by the league coaches and Tuoyo being named SoCon Defensive Player of the Year.
Chattanooga also has four players who signed a National Letter of Intent during the early signing period in mid-November, but hanging onto recruits who signed to play for the previous coaching staff can be tough to do.
