CHARLESTON, S.C. - Ed Conroy was formally introduced as Tulane University's new head men's basketball coach Wednesday at a news conference at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center. Tulane's Director of Athletics Rick Dickson today announced the appointment of Conroy, who becomes the 23rd head coach in the 99-year history of the Tulane men's basketball program.
"It has been a whirlwind week that is culminating in a great day for Green Wave athletics as we introduce Coach Conroy as the new leader of our men's basketball program," said Tulane Athletics Director Rick Dickson. "Ed, with his experience and history of turning around programs, is the perfect coach to teach and inspire our student-athletes and return Tulane basketball to being a highly successful program."
Conroy leaves behind a Citadel squad that has nine rising seniors and moved to the second round of the Southern Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006. The Bulldogs were one of four teams nationally to face multiple Final Four opponents. The Citadel, who met West Virginia and Michigan State, joined North Carolina who played Michigan State and Duke; Ohio State who battled West Virginia, Butler and Michigan State; and Georgetown who matched up with Duke and Butler as the only schools nationally to met at least two Final Four participants.
Furthermore, The Citadel won four or more consecutive Southern Conference games in back-to-back seasons for third time in school history. Coach Conroy, who guided his team to 11 straight victories in '08-09, began February by winning five straight games. The two previous times came in 1938-39 and 1939-40 under Rock Norman/Ben Parker. More recently the Bulldogs had a pair of four SoCon victories in the 1959-60 season, under the guidance of Norm Sloan, as well as the Mel Thompson 1960-61 squad.
"Coach Conroy has a reputation as a highly regarded recruiter and coach, which he proved most recently at The Citadel," Tulane President Scott Cowen said. "He's a coach who has shown that he can turn around a program at a selective academic university where recruiting is done under challenging circumstances. Having met him and talked with him at length, I am also impressed with his character and values."
"I am extremely excited for this great opportunity that Scott Cowen and Rick Dickson have given me," Conroy said. "They have a great vision for Tulane athletics and I am thrilled to be part of such a great institution and proud to be the basketball coach. My goal is to run a basketball program that mirrors the success of the academic programs on campus. This is an exciting time for me and my family and I cannot wait to get started."
Conroy moves to Tulane after a four-year stint as the head coach at The Citadel where he posted a 49-76 overall record, including a 29-47 mark in the Southern Conference. He has also served as an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University, the University of Tennessee, Furman University, Virginia Military Institute and North Carolina State University and spent three seasons as the head coach at Division II Francis Marion University.
The Davenport, Iowa, native was named the 2008-09 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and earned NABC District 22 Coach of the Year honors after leading The Citadel to a 20-13 record that included a school record 15 conference victories. Conroy led the Bulldogs to the best turnaround in Division I that season, going from a 6-24 team into the second 20-win season in school history and the first since the 1978-79 season.
Prior to his tenure at The Citadel, Conroy spent one season as an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina under Buzz Peterson. In his first year with CCU, the Chanticleers went 20-10 overall and 12-4 in the Big South Conference. Coastal finished the season second in the Big South after making their first appearance in the Big South championship game since 1993.
Conroy joined Coastal after spending four years on Peterson's staff at Tennessee, the last two as an assistant coach. Prior to being named an assistant coach, Conroy served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Volunteers during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons after holding the same position on Peterson's staff at The University of Tulsa in 2000-01.
Prior to joining Peterson's staff at Tulsa, Conroy worked for three years as the head coach at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. In three seasons at Francis Marion, Conroy recorded a 41-40 overall record. In his first season at FMU he led the Patriots to a 16-11 record, which was an improvement of 13 wins from the previous season and ranked as the biggest turnaround in NCAA Divisions I and II that year. Picked to finish last in the Peach Belt Conference that season, the Patriots finished second. His team's accomplishments netted Conroy the 1998 conference coach of the year honors.
Before taking over the head coaching reins at Francis Marion, Conroy spent three years (1994-97) as an assistant coach at Furman and one year (1993-94) at Virginia Military Institute. He also spent three years (1990-93) on Les Robinson's North Carolina State coaching staff that also included Peterson and Al Daniel.
Conroy, 43, was recruited to play basketball for The Citadel by Robinson in 1985 and was a three-year starter for the Bulldogs. He is tied for 10th in The Citadel record books for his free throw percentage in a season (84.7 in 1988) and holds down the No. 7 spot for free throw percentage in a career with 81.5. During his senior season, Conroy started all 28 games and averaged 10.1 points a game. He converted 103 three-point field goals in his career. As a senior, Conroy also served as team captain and held the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Corps of Cadets, the highest rank achieved by a basketball player in the modern era at The Citadel.
*Also contributing to this release was Brian Miller, Associate Athletics Communications Director at Tulane University.
