BOONE, N.C. -- Houston Fancher, an assistant for past four seasons at
Appalachian State, was promoted to head coach Wednesday, replacing Buzz
Peterson, who took the Tulsa job a day earlier.
Fancher, 34, inherits a team that went 23-9 last season, won the Southern
Conference championship and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time
since 1979. Fancher was associate head coach for the last two years at ASU.
"This is going to be a difficult, but easy time for me right now," Fancher
said at the news conference announcing the promotion. "Obviously, with the
loss of Buzz, I've lost a good friend.
"I want to be the one to carry it on for him. ... I want to grow this
thing," he said. "I want to continue to get better and to take this thing to
a higher level."
Fancher has 16 years of coaching experience, including previous stints as an
assistant at Maryville, Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee, his alma mater. He
went 44-41 during three years as head coach at North Greenville, an NAIA
school.
Peterson went 79-39 as ASU's head coach before taking the Tulsa job after
Bill Self left for Illinois.
The Mountaineers lost their two top scorers from last season as Tyson
Patterson graduated and Rufus Leach drowned earlier this month on a Tennessee
lake.
Details on Fancher's contract were not released by the school.
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