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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Western Carolina is hiring Gardner-Webb‘s Tim Craft as its next coach, the school announced Wednesday.
Craft will be formally introduced at a news conference on Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to be joining the Catamount Family and the Cullowhee community,” Craft said. “We can’t wait to hit the ground running to continue the recent success and rise of this program. Western Carolina basketball will be a source of pride and excitement for the athletics department, the campus, the community and everyone that loves the Catamounts!”
Craft was the coach at Gardner-Webb for the past 12 seasons, leading the Runnin’ Bulldogs to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2019. They won 20 games twice during Craft’s tenure and finished at least .500 in the Big South in all 12 seasons under Craft, including an 11-5 league campaign this season, enough to finish third in the league standings.
After winning just two games against Division I opponents in the first two months of the season, Gardner-Webb won 12 of its next 15 games before falling in the Big South semifinals to UNC Asheville on Saturday.
Before being hired at Gardner-Webb, Craft spent three seasons as an assistant coach at East Carolina and two seasons as an assistant at Auburn.
Craft replaces Justin Gray, who left earlier in the week for Coastal Carolina.