I am sure you all will find a large following of Carolina fans with Coach Doherty's hiring.

You have gotten yourself a tireless worker, great motivator, and someone who is as passionate about winning as you can be. With the upcoming move to the new conference, get ready to see why Carolina loves basketball!

He will only do great things for your basketball program and I wish him, your players, and all the fans the best of luck!

Thanks and welcome to the board,unc94mjs. We all wanted this one before he even was mentioned as a candidate. He can start with a fresh group and obviously his recruiting will only get us more recognition.
Thanks for sending him to us.. ;)

Wow unc94mjs that is very impressive and welcome.

Here's a great article on the hiring:

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/home/article/0,1651,TCP_996_3709985,00.html

Also, there's a video of the press conference at the official site:

http://fausports.collegesports.com/

Perhaps new Assistant Coach Walters will be a head coach one day…

Also, his comments about raising money for facilities are interesting.

BTW, the video requires RealPlayer. If you don't want to install that program (it can be intrusive) try a program called "Real Alternative".

This is just an awesome hire not only for what it means to our basketball program, but our hole athletic department.

The vision & dream that was started with the birth of our football program and the evolution that has taken place to this point will now esclate to fulfillment. President Brogan & AD Angelos showed that they are committed to the growth of this University as a whole.

Doherty now shares that same dream & vision that Coach Schnellenberger has started and sounds like he will have the same drive & passion to acheiving it.

I have goose bumps, great day in Owl Land.

Did anyone else see coach Doherty on ESPN2's Cold Pizza yesterday morning? He was sitting in front of a pool and some palm trees, saying alot of good stuff. The guys from Cold Pizza were impressed by the level of our coaches on football and now basketball. Doherty was very complimentary of Brogan, the AD, and Schellenberger. One of the big things that I liked was Doherty talking about the rise of a Gonzaga…and why couldn't that happen here!!!!! (We have much better weather than Seattle)

Boca News article
Read On:
http://www.bocanews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=11412&category=Sports%20News




Sentinel article
Read On:

New coach accepts difficult recruiting

By Ted Hutton
Staff Writer
Posted April 20 2005

When Matt Doherty began his coaching career as an assistant at Davidson in 1990, he tried to recruit Grant Hill, Eric Montross and Pat Sullivan.

"I figured if we could get five players like that, we could bring Davidson back," said Doherty, who was named Florida Atlantic's coach Monday.

Doherty soon realized players of that caliber were destined for the elite programs. All three went to North Carolina. When Doherty was coach at North Carolina from 2000 to 2003, such players took his calls and many became Tar Heels, and his recruits helped North Carolina win this year's national championship.

But Doherty knows that FAU is more like Davidson.

"We have to steal players that fall through the cracks," said Doherty, who helped recruit players at Kansas during his seven years as an assistant there and is credited with reviving North Carolina's recruiting after it had lagged under Bill Guthridge.

After meeting with FAU's returning players Monday, Doherty spent Tuesday putting together recruiting plans with Rex Walters, his new assistant.

Walters, who played for Doherty at Kansas and had a seven-year NBA career, was an assistant at Valparaiso last season. While signing day has passed and there is some urgency to find recruits to fill the five open scholarships, Walters said patience is important.

"We're not going to scramble. It will be difficult, but there are players out there. We're not going to sign someone just to fill the scholarship," said Walters, who is in contact with players he had been recruiting at Valparaiso.

Doherty said FAU needs to upgrade its facilities to help recruiting, and he wants to start with the locker room, which is crammed into a corner of the FAU Gymnasium. "We need a place where the guys feel proud," Doherty said. "If we build first-rate facilities here, the sky is the limit."

That will take money, something FAU's athletic department is short on. Athletic Director Craig Angelos had to scrape up an extra $30,000 to pay Doherty enough to accept the job, and Angelos said any money for new facilities will have to come from outside sources.

Doherty said he understands he must spend time fund-raising.

"I'm excited about knocking on doors and asking people to give to their favorite charity," Doherty said.

While recruiting is a priority, Doherty inherits a roster that should be competitive in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

FAU lost Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Mike Bell but returns the starting backcourt of Kahleaf Watson and Quinton Young. Forwards Rodney Webb, Derrick Simmons and Fred Marshall will also be back.

"It's a great thing for the program," Young said. "[Doherty is] going to increase wins fast. I'm ready to go practice right now."

Maybe I need to look him up Saturday and remind him of what he did to my Georgetown Hoyas back in the day.. :(

But hey! I'll get over it with a few early wins next season.. :D

I found the sound bites from the prez's speach and Matt's entire acceptance speech. This is the site address http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/collsports_fau/

This is the article, it is under the heading: Ray McNulty: Doherty begins climb anew

Does Matt Doherty really expect us to believe that he'd rather be resurrecting a dead program at a commuter college in the Palm Beaches than coaching at some big-time school somewhere else?
FULL STORY ? | REAL AUDIO | WINDOWS MEDIA AUDIO | REAL AUDIO | WINDOWS MEDIA AUDIO ?<br>

Click on the windows media audio the 1st is Brogan and Matt is the second one