BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Fran McCaffery, an assistant basketball coach at Lehigh the last two seasons, Saturday was named head coach for the Engineers.
McCaffery -- just 26 -- succeeds Tom Schneider, who resigned after two seasons to become coach at Pennsylvania.
McCaffery, who played at Wake Forest and then transferred to Penn after his freshman year, is familiar with many of the players on the Lehigh team because he helped recruit them.
'Fran has great rapport with the athletes, many of whom he recruited, and he is highly regarded by his colleagues at other schools,' said Athletic Director Dick Gibney, who said Schneider endorsed McCaffery as his successor.
'We're very pleased to retain Fran in view of his personal and professional qualities. He has proven that he is an effective recruiter, he knows the game inside and out and has great command of the technical skills required for the position of head coach.'
McCaffery said he recognized there would be some concern about his age, butsaid he has the experience and background to be successful.
'Basketball has been part of my life for more than 20 years,' he said. 'I'm familiar with the Lehigh program and the way it's structured. I'm familiar with the recruitment procedures and administrative procedures. And I have the educational background and the basketball experience to successfully run a Division I college basketball program.'
Lehigh advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its history last season. The Engineers lost to Georgetown in the first round.
