With Ashley Howard leaving the Xavier coaching staff to join Jay Wright at Villanova, head coach Chris Mack had a vacancy to fill before the Musketeers officially join the Big East on July 1.
According to Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer that’s been done, as former Missouri assistant Rick Carter will fill the position. Prior to his one season at Missouri, Carter spent four seasons on Steve Hawkins’ staff at Western Michigan.
Carter’s connection to current Missouri assistant Tim Fuller (both were members of Ed Cooley’s staff at Fairfield) played a role in Frank Haith hiring him last summer. In the aftermath of Carter’s decision to resign earlier this week, it was rumored that he would make the move to Xavier.
“Rick is a talented coach and a relentless recruiter,” Haith said in a statement announcing his hiring of Carter last year. “He has a great basketball background working for Steve Hawkins at Western Michigan, Ed Cooley at Fairfield and of course Tom Izzo at Michigan State and he has connections to a couple members of our staff, so I really liked the instant fit.”
With the first live recruiting period less than a month away (July 10), the sooner a head coach fills out his coaching staff the better. With all positions accounted for, it becomes that much easier to divvy up responsibilities for July, whether it’s regarding the evaluation of recruits or working with the players currently in the program.
Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.