UTPB closer to filling two coaching vacancies

UTPB hasn't had a men's basketball coach for a little more than a month.

The Falcons haven't had a cross country coach for most of 2009.

Athletic Director Steve Aicinena wants to get those problems fixed. To fill those positions, the UTPB athletic department is interviewing three finalists for the men's basketball job this week and another for cross country.

From a list of 82 applicants, Aicinena, assistant athletic director Adam Collins and the rest of the Falcons search committee has narrowed it down to three.

"We had a couple more really good candidates, but we're bringing in these three this week," Aicinena said.

Time for the interviews. At an interview, both the school and the coach are trying to put their best foot forward, and both parties still have an opportunity to walk away.

"Sometimes people don't want to come after they visit," Aicinena said. "Sometimes they're not perceived to be a good fit. Optimistically, we'd like to have somebody appointed by next week."

Some West Texans will recognize at least one name on Aicinena's basketball list.

Dylan Howard spent last season as an assistant coach at Mississippi Valley State, a Division I team that finished 3-19.

But before heading to Mississippi Valley State, Howard spent seven years as the head coach of Hardin-Simmons.

During his time at the head of the Division III program, Howard built the team into a winner that finished 64-43 over the course of his final four seasons and reached the American Southwest Conference tournament three times.

UTPB will also interview Jason Gillespie, the current head coach at Bluefield College, an NAIA Division II school located in Bluefield, Virginia.

In four years at Bluefield, Gillespie has led the Ramblin' Rams to a 92-41 record, two Appalachian Athletic Conference championships and three NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances.

Rounding out Aicinena's list of applicants is Dwaine Osborne, the head coach at Glenville State College, an NCAA Division II school in West Virginia.

Osborne is coming off a season in which he led the Pioneers to their first 20-win season as member of NCAA Division II.

"These would be the three people we felt strongest about," Aicinena said. "A job search is never over until you make a hire."

UTPB has no better example than its search for a cross country coach.

Over the course of the last month and a half, the Falcons have brought both West Virginia's Michael Bryant and Jennifer McGranahan, a representative of the Pensacola, Fla.-based specialty store, Running Wild.

The Falcons are hoping Jeff Becker, currently the assistant women's track and cross country coach at New Mexico Junior College, finds the right fit during this week's interview.

"We're interviewing a finalist," Aicinena said. "We've already interviewed two other people, and we're just waiting until we find the right person."

For both jobs.