Landing the ‘right man’
Kansas assistant coach picked to head men’s basketball
By Ram Luthra
Sports Editor

When Neil Dougherty took the long stride to step off the twin-jet airplane at Meacham Airport Monday, he came with a small piece of memorabilia in the pocket of his jacket.

Dougherty, 40, arrived in Fort Worth with a piece of the basketball net that he had cut down after the Kansas Jayhawks defeated Oregon Sunday in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis. to advance to the Final Four.

David Dunai/ STAFF REPORTER Neil Dougherty walks down the steps from a plane at Fort Worth Meacham Airport Monday shortly before he is officially named as the head coach for the men’s basketball team.

That small piece of the net was matched by TCU with a new pair of leather cowboy boots, a purple silk tie and the men’s basketball head coaching job.

Dougherty was announced the new men’s basketball head coach by Athletics Director Eric Hyman at the John Justin Athletic Center in front of university administrators, devout basketball followers, some players and many of his family members.

“This is a lot more than I expected,” Dougherty said referring to the large audience that welcomed him to TCU. “There were two things that I told myself that I would never do in my life. That would be wear orange or purple, but I am very excited to wear purple right now.

Dougherty, who is replacing Billy Tubbs, has been rumored as the one of the candidates for the job during the past several weeks. Dougherty said he took the offer in serious consideration, despite some of positions he was offered in the past.

“I have had different opportunities to either pursue or in some cases to even accept a job,” he said at the press conference. “But I was looking for the right fit. This place is the right fit for me and my family. I want my whole family to be part of your family of Fort Worth and TCU.”

While he was waiting for the airplane to arrive, Hyman said he was ecstatic that Dougherty took the job at TCU. But Hyman said he was hesitant at first to hire an assistant coach for the vacant post.

“During the process of finding a coach, I was focused on getting a sitting head coach to take the job,” Hyman said. “But as the search continued I got a call from (Roy Williams), and he told me that ‘(Dougherty) was the best assistant coach he ever had.’”

Dougherty spent the past seven seasons at Kansas. Prior to that he was an assistant for Eddie Fogler at Vanderbilt (1989-93) and South Carolina (1993-95). Before making a splash into the Southeastern Conference, he was an assistant at Drake University (1984-88) where he was introduced to Chancellor Michael Ferrari. Dougherty also coached at his alma mater Cameron University in Oklahoma (1984-88). He also played for current Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski for one year at the U.S. Military Academy.

Dougherty becomes the 18th basketball coach for the men’s program and the first black coach to take the position. He is also the first black coach to lead any men’s sport at TCU. The only black coach TCU has had in the past was former women’s basketball head coach Shell Robinson (1993-96).

“I understand the significance and I am not going to downplay that factor any bit,” Dougherty said. “The concern has to be not what color the coach is, but what kind of coach I am going to be.”

Dougherty agrees that the color of his skin will be an advantage for both the university and the basketball team.

“I hope that it is a positive,” Dougherty said. “I am sure going to try to make it into one. Hopefully that’s how everyone else can perceive that way.”

Ferrari said the new coach’s accolades was the reason he was offered the job, but his race was evident during the decision process.

“(His race) is extremely important,” Ferrari said. “I think we were mindful of that throughout the process. But his records and achievements speak for itself. I am fortunately very delighted to attract a coach of his abilities. And also he certainly happens to be African-American.”

Dougherty said there will not be any major transitions for him to make from being an assistant coach/recruiter toward a role as a head coach.

During his stints as assistant coach at Kansas and Vanderbilt, he said he was well prepared by some of his former mentors like Williams and Fogler.

“(Williams and Fogler) took it very seriously to train me and mold me as a head coach,” he said. “I feel very confident and comfortable in my ability to operate a program. I have already been doing the things a head coach does as an assistant in the past.”

Williams said during the time Dougherty spend in Lawrence, Kan., his assistant coach learned a lot on the job.

“He’s been involved in every aspect of our program — there’s nothing that’s going to happen at TCU that will surprise him,” Williams said. “The only difference is that he’ll be making some decisions as opposed to suggestions, but there is nothing he’s going to see that he hasn’t had a hand in already trying to some up with a solution.”

Even though the specific details of his contract were not disclosed, Dougherty said he is committed to TCU and will stay as long as the university wants him.

“Another goal that I have other than winning games and building a solid program, I don’t want to TCU to have another similar press conference for a long, long time,” Dougherty said.

Ram Luthra
r.d.luthra@student.tcu.edu

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002