Averett women's basketball head coach Larry Epperly has decided
not to return next season.
Epperly, who is in his first season with Averett, informed his
team and the Averett administration of his decision earlier this
week and will continue to coach the Cougars until the end of this
season, whenever that might be.
"Averett and I have mutually agreed that it is in the best
interest of the program to announce at this time that I will not be
returning as the women's basketball head coach beyond this season,"
Epperly said. "I would like to thank Averett University and
Director of Athletics Sam Ferguson for the opportunity to coach
these young ladies."
Epperly led Averett to a 4-0 start this season, the best start in
program history. The Cougars are 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the USA
South Conference entering Wednesday's home game with Methodist
University.
Epperly was hired last August to replace Katrina Williams, who
left just before the school year started to take an assistant coach
position at Division I Radford. Epperly became the seventh coach in
the program's history, which dates back 1983.
"When Coach Epperly and I talked in late August, we agreed to make
this appointment on an interim basis, in order to determine whether
or not this was a good fit," Ferguson said. "Unfortunately, Coach
Epperly has decided to take his career in a different direction. He
is a man that I have truly enjoyed working with and someone whom I
respect tremendously. It was his wish to notify us now so that we
have a sufficient amount of time to conduct a national search. That
is exactly what we are going to do. We wish him well in his future
endeavors and thank him for all he has done for Averett
University."
Averett will open its search for a new coach immediately.
"I met with the team on Tuesday after Coach Epperly informed me of
his decision," Ferguson said. "As part of our standard procedure,
the players will have an active role in the search for our new head
coach."
Averett women's coach won't return
Jan 23, 2011