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Head coach Brad Underwood to remain at Stephen F. Austin

Stephen F. Austin v UCLA

during the third round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 23, 2014 in San Diego, California.

Donald Miralle

To follow along with the 2014 Coaching Carousel, click here.

To say that Brad Underwood enjoyed a success debut season as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin would be an understatement. Underwood’s Lumberjacks finished the season with a record of 32-3, reeling off 29 consecutive wins and winning the Southland Conference’s regular season and tournament titles before falling to UCLA in the NCAA tournament Round of 32.

Having that much success tends to make a coach popular on the coaching carousel and that was the case for Underwood, who according to multiple outlets was in the running for the opening at Southern Miss. However, Wednesday afternoon Stephen F. Austin announced that Underwood will remain the basketball program’s head coach.

“Coach Underwood has indicated to me that he will remain a Lumberjack,” Stephen F. Austin AD Robert Hill said in the release. “I look forward to another exciting season with him leading our program, and we will continue to move forward with Coach Underwood and what should be a great basketball team.”

The reigning Southland champions will have some personnel losses to account for heading into 2014-15, with guards Desmond Haymon (14.5 ppg) and Deshaunt Walker (11.7) and forward Nikola Gajic (9.6, 5.0 rpg) out of eligibility. However forward Jacob Parker (14.2, 7.1) and guard Thomas Walkup (13.1, 5.3) both return, which will certainly help Underwood and his staff address the departures of Haymon, Walker and Gajic.

The Lumberjacks will add a six-member recruiting class to the program, a group that includes junior college transfer Clide Geffard. Geffard, who played at Northwest Florida State last season, began his college career at Samford and was a Southern Conference All-Freshman Team selection in 2012-13.

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