Conroy Says “No” to UNCW & “Yes” to Tulane

The UNCW men’s basketball team is still without a head coach. On top of that the leading candidate, Ed Conroy, withdrew his name from consideration Tuesday afternoon. That happened shortly after the executive committee of the UNCW Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting to discuss a personnel issue related to the job search. On top of that Conroy said “yes” to Tulane University Tuesday night. It’s a job he interviewed for Monday in New Orleans.

When Benny Moss was reassigned within the UNCW athletic department back in January some Seahawk supporters figured the athletic department must have another coach in mind to take over the program. That would be one reason to justify a reassignment in the middle of the season, but apparently that’s not the case, as UNCW has gone 68 days without a permanent head coach.

Conroy, the Citadel head coach, turned down the offer to coach UNCW Tuesday afternoon, five days after being offered the position.

T.J. Snell is a Seahawk freshman. He doesn’t like it when coaches say no to UNCW.

“It’s kinda disappointing, because if other coaches see that there’s not any hope for us, then it’s kinda disheartening,” Snell said. “I’m sure we’ll find one.”

Former Seahawk guard Mark Byington may be the front-runner now. If the job is offered to Byington, surely he would take it. Currently Byington is an assistant coach under Bobby Cremins at the College of Charleston.

Students at UNCW are anxious for a resolution, including the student body president Mark Blackwell.

“Now that the national championship is over I think it’s a safe time to make a selection, because we have a chance to get somebody competitive, but it needs to be the right decision,” Blackwell said.

UNCW senior Tanner Currin told WWAY, “You can’t rush the process, because I think that’s what the school did with Benny Moss, and that didn’t work out at all. I have a feeling we can get the right man here, and the CAA is not a bad conference.”

Said Brandon Singleton of Wilmington, “It really shouldn’t be that hard to find a coach. There’s a lot of coaches out there looking for the lower collegiate jobs.”

Brooks Lee is still the interim head coach at UNCW. Moss is still employed at the university, but not involved with the basketball team.

“I feel bad for Benny Moss, because he led by example,” Robert Mack of Wilmington said. “I think things could have waited at least until the end of the season.”