Old friend new guy at Asbury

Asbury announced today that Kentucky Christian University head man Will Shouse will be its new men’s basketball coach.

Shouse, a former assistant under departed head coach Jim Aller, is coming out of two seasons at KCU where he was named NCCAA Mid-East Region Coach of the Year both years and was a finalist for national Coach of the Year in 2007. His teams placed third in the NCCAA Division II national semifinals both years.

Right now, his KCU team is ranked second in the nation in NCCAA Division II, so we know he has a penchant for turning teams around. And for those wondering what kind of offense he runs, KCU led the nation in scoring both years Shouse was there. They averaged 96.5 points per game en route to a 29-9 season last year.

Shouse played at Asbury under the man he is going to replace. He is a member of the 1,000-point club and broke the school record for 3-pointers made in his career.

Shouse was considered an early favorite for the job after Aller was let go in April, but there were some whispers that Athletics Director Gary Kempf wanted to go outside the Aller regime to get a coach. Shouse, however, was well-liked while he was a player and an assistant coach here, and he commanded the respect of the players who were not much younger than he.

The man has a significant job to do, as he was not left with much from last year’s team. Asbury graduated seven seniors, including five of the top six seniors. The upcoming freshman and sophomore classes are also nothing to get terribly excited about — there is not much size down there, which can really get a team hammered in the KIAC. Aller recently never put much emphasis on recruiting because he was getting good players handed to him from West Jessamine and the Asbury faculty and staff. Conference Player of the Year Brett Johnson, his brother, Brian Johnson, and Travis, Michael and Ben Spann were all related to each other and were sons and nephews of Asbury professor Glen Spann. Sharpshooter Derek Bland was the son of Aller’s assistant coach, Bill Bland.

Shouse, however, was Aller’s best recruiter when he was here, and the job he did at KCU is a good sign of what he can accomplish at Asbury. The team has established itself as a conference powerhouse but has never been able to get over that hump and win the conference tournament to get to the NAIA National Tournament.

No word on assistant coaches yet — his top assistant at KCU was Grady Lowe who came in at the same time Shouse did. He also brought in Bradley Walker whom he coached at Asbury. I would assume Walker would want to come back to his alma mater, but Lowe is from Carter County where KCU is, so he may not want to relocate. As far as current Asbury assistants, Bland was an Aller guy for years, Bart Flener got the women’s head coaching job and Jason Price was Shouse’s teammate for two years. My best guess, with no inside information, is Price and Walker will each be on the bench, and Shouse will bring in one more assistant. I can’t see Bland sticking around with Aller leaving and Derek graduating in the same year.

Shouse will be on campus next week, so I will get an interview with him then.