CLEVELAND (AP) -Kent State assistant Geno Ford is expected to take over the men’s basketball program, replacing Jim Christian, who resigned last week.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Ford will be introduced Wednesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Ford’s contract has not been finalized.
Christian left after six seasons to take over at TCU.
On Tuesday night, Kent State released a statement saying it will hold an 11 a.m. news conference on Wednesday to introduce its new coach.
Ford inherits a program that won at least 20 games in each of the past 10 seasons. The Golden Flashes won the Mid-American Conference regular-season East title and tournament this past season, earning their fifth NCAA tournament berth in 10 years.
Ford, who starred as a player at Ohio, rejoined Christian’s staff at Kent this season after spending two seasons as the head coach at Division III Muskingum.
Athletic director Laing Kennedy decided to stay within the program to replace Christian, who went 138-58 and took the Golden Flashes to two NCAAs and three NITs. However, Christian was 0-5 in the postseason, and concluded his impressive stint at the mid-major school with a 71-58 first-round loss to UNLV in the Midwest regional.
In that game, Kent State scored just 10 points in the first half.
During his news conference last week in Dallas, Christian said he hoped Ford would get the Kent State job. Instead of dragging out a national search, Kennedy decided not to venture outside the school’s northeast Ohio campus to find his next coach.
Kennedy did the same thing in 2002 when he tabbed Christian the successor for Stan Heath, who left for Arkansas after leading Kent State to the final eight in the NCAA tournament.
Before Kent State lost in this year’s NCAA tourney, Kennedy knew there was a good chance Christian would leave. However, he was confident the school would be able to attract a big-name replacement.
In Ohio, Ford’s name is big enough.
He was named AP Ohio’s Mr. Basketball after playing for his father, Gene, at Cambridge High School. At Ohio, the scrappy point guard scored 1,752 points in four years before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Bobcats in 1998.
Ford was an assistant for two seasons at Ohio and then took his first head coaching job at Shawnee State. He was hired by Christian in 2002 and spent three years at Kent State, which won two MAC East titles while he was on the staff.
In his first season at Muskingum, Ford led the Muskies to a 17-9 record – their best mark in 15 years.
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