Dooley to interview at Wilmington

By Gary Bedore     Apr 5, 2006

Kansas University assistant basketball coach Joe Dooley will interview for the UNC-Wilmington head-coaching job today in Wilmington, N.C.

Dooley, who compiled a 57-52 record as head coach at East Carolina from 1996 to ’99 and has worked for Bill Self at KU the past three seasons, arrived Tuesday in Wilmington and had dinner with athletic director Mike Cappacio.

Today, he’ll meet with university officials and the search committee, with Texas assistant Rodney Terry expected to arrive on Dooley’s heels for dinner tonight and an interview Thursday.

Dooley declined comment Tuesday at the Wilmington airport, citing Self’s policy of assistants not commenting on job openings.

North Dakota State head coach Tim Miles also is expected to interview. Charlotte assistant Benny Moss and Coastal Carolina head coach Buzz Peterson also have been mentioned as candidates.

Self loves the job Dooley has done at KU.

“He loves to recruit. He’s a hard-working cat,” Self said.

“He loves it, and Joe takes his work home as much as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Self said. “I’m glad that Joe’s married and has a young child. If he wasn’t married and didn’t have a child, he would live here in the office.”

Self said a strength of Dooley’s was identifying prospects early – such as frosh Mario Chalmers – before it became obvious they were big-time recruits.

UT’s Terry was an assistant coach at UNCW under Jerry Wainwright from 1999 to 2002. Miami head coach Frank Haith, a former UNCW assistant, told the Wilmington Star-News the job would be a good fit for Terry.

“The fact that he’s been there before (helps). He’ll sink his feet into it,” Haith said.

UNC-Wilmington is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, the same conference as Final Four participant George Mason.

¢ Just one game vs. UT: Texas coach Rick Barnes told the Austin American Statesman last week he’d like to play Kansas twice a season: once in conference play, the other an extra game that would not count in the standings.

“We’ve talked about it before. It will not happen next year,” said KU senior associate AD Larry Keating, in charge of scheduling. “Rick thinks it’s a good idea the years they are coming here,” he quipped.

Self was asked about the matter on his weekly radio show this past season, indicating he didn’t foresee playing UT twice in a campaign. Some years the schools play twice anyway, like this year, when they met in the finals of the league tourney.

“There’s been talk over the years about playing extra games among the top teams in the league,” Keating said, noting KU prefers to find a strong national team like Texas, but one that plays outside the league, for variety’s sake.

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