Eastern Kentucky University's men's basketball coach says a 'family' approach is what he's bringing to his new job. Dan McHale says he'll be fully engrained on campus and in the Richmond community.
A good sized crowd greeted the new coach during his 'on the court' introduction. McHale called the head coaching position at Eastern a 'dream job', saying he plans on being at EKU for a very long time. He believes fans will come to see an up tempo style of play. "I want to be the guy that's in the cafeterias. I want to be the guy that's on campus. We have to get a great student section. That's the one thing I've learned over my last 15 years of coaching, if you have a great home court advantage, you can beat anybody in the country," said McHale.
The New Jersey native says an ongoing goal is to win the OVC conference and make a 'deep run' in the NC double A tournament. "I think everyone wants to have the same type of runs that the VCU's and the George Mason's and the Wichita State's and why can't that be us? That's going to be our motto every day," explained McHale.
McHale comes to Richmond from Minnesota where he served as an assistant coach. He takes over for Jeff Neubauer who led the Colonels for a decade before leaving for Fordham University. University President Michael Benson noted that McHale has little time to relish his new position. "And as important as shirts and lapel pins are coach, the most important thing you need at this point, cause you're hitting the road tomorrow…tomorrow morning…is a case of business cards. We had those specially made," said Benson.
Among the Colonel players on hand for the announcement was K.J. Bluford, who is from Minnesota, where McHale served as an assistant coach. Bluford said he can't wait playing for McHale. Bluford gets his chance on Monday when workouts begin.?
