Days after head coach Tommy Dempsey left Rider to take the same position at Binghamton, the Broncs have hired from within to fill their vacancy.
Kevin Baggett has been named the head coach at Rider, athletic director Don Harnum announced at a press conference.
“Kevin has been a major part of our recent success and I am confident he has the ability to be an excellent head coach who understands what it takes to be successful at Rider,” Harnum said in a statement. “We are committed to building a program that wins consistently by focusing on recruiting quality student-athletes and then developing them to their fullest potential as students, people, and basketball players.”
Baggett has served as the associate head coach at Rider for the past four seasons under Dempsey, part of his 16-year coaching career at the Division I level.
He played his college basketball at St. Joe’s (Pa.) and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament with his team in 1985-86.
He served previously as an assistant at Maryland-Baltimore County, Howard, Western Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, and James Madison.
“I will be forever grateful to President Rozanski, Associate Vice President Debbie Stasolla and our Athletic Director Don Harnum for giving me the opportunity to become Rider’s next head men’s basketball coach,” said Baggett in the statement. “I am looking forward to building on the tradition and success that has been established here at Rider and I am eager and excited to get started.”
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
