(St. Louis, MO) – The entire college basketball world has been introduced to the South Carolina Gamecocks and Ohio Valley Conference fans will now get to know associate head coach Matt Figger, because he is becoming Austin Peay’s new head coach.
Figger was a part of the Final Four run by the Frank Martin coached South Carolina squad that upset Duke on their way to an East Region championship. The Gamecocks also defeated Marquette, Baylor and Florida.
Photo by Travis Bell/SIDELINE CAROLINA
“We are excited to welcome Coach Figger and his family to APSU,” said Austin Peay athletics director Ryan Ivey. “This is an exciting and unprecedented time for Governors basketball.
“When we sat out with our process, we were looking for someone who could bring an excitement and energy to our program, someone who is committed to a quality student-athlete experience, someone who would be involved in our campus and community, and someone that knew and had experience with successful programs. Coach Figger brings these characteristics and more, and we couldn’t be more ecstatic to have him leading our program.” (Quotes courtesy of letsgopeay.com. To read the entire press release go to letsgopeay.com)
Figger has worked with the successful Martin since 2007, when they began working at Kansas State. Figger also worked with recently signed Illinois head coach Brad Underwood on Martin’s Wildcat staff. At both K-State and at USC, Martin’s staff took struggling programs to heights they hadn’t seen in some time. The Wildcats reached the 2010 Elite Eight and this year’s Gamecocks reached the Final Four.
A noted recruiter, Figger has also worked at South Alabama and briefly at Arkansas with John Pelphrey, and he has coached at the junior college level.
Figger has OVC roots having graduated from Eastern Kentucky. He played collegiate baseball at Pikeville College, but graduated from EKU. He replaces legendary Austin Peay head coach Dave Loos, who retired at the end of the season.
There will be a Thursday morning press conference to introduce the Jenkins, Kentucky native to the Clarksville media, Austin Peay fans and players.
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Editor: Headline picture courtesy of gamecockmbb.com.
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