A chain reaction in the world of men’s basketball coaches led to Armstrong Atlantic State head coach Jeremy Luther leaving Friday for an assistant position at Gardner-Webb, where his friend since high school and longtime peer Tim Craft was hired last month to head the Division I program.
Luther’s resignation was announced Friday at NCAA Division II Armstrong, where he was 51-56 in four seasons, including 32-41 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Pirates went 15-12 in 2012-13 and 11-8 in the PBC, finishing second in the Eastern Division while advancing to the conference tournament.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” Luther said Friday. “It puts me in a position to work with one of my closest friends (Craft) in the business. That’s hard to find.”
Evans Davis, an Armstrong assistant since 2009-10, will serve as interim head coach for the 2013-14 season, which starts Nov. 8. Luther said he believes Davis will do a great job and has been a great recruiter.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to be the head coach at Armstrong,” said Davis, a former standout player at Mercer and Truett-McConnell in Cleveland, Ga., where he later was a head coach. “I think we have a chance to be a good team this year. Through hard work and dedication, we expect to compete and put ourselves in a position to be successful.”
Armstrong athletic director Lisa Sweany said a national search for a permanent coach would not come until after the season, probably in April, and that Davis is welcome to apply for the position.
“I know we’re in good hands with coach Davis to move forward,” Sweany said Friday. “Coach Luther has done a nice job for Armstrong the last four seasons. Last season was kind of that breakout season for him, which was nice to see.
“I certainly understand his decision to move on for his professional career and his family,” she added.
Luther, who turns 40 in October, wasn’t looking to move on. In fact, it took more than a day for Craft to reach him after they played phone tag Sunday while Luther spent the day on Tybee Island with his family and relatives.
Luther even missed a call because his hands were full of suntan lotion.
Luther brought his cell phone to the beach Monday, and he blocked the wind with a towel on his head as he and Craft talked for about two hours.
“It feels good when something comes after you,” Luther said of his recruitment. “I wasn’t pursuing anything. I like being a head coach and love Savannah.”
Luther was aware that Gardner-Webb, in Boiling Springs, N.C., had brought back a former Runnin’ Bulldogs assistant in Craft on July 22 to replace Chris Holtmann, the 2013 Big South Conference Coach of the Year after a 21-13 campaign.
Holtmann had stepped down to be an assistant at Butler University under Brandon Miller, who had replaced Brad Stevens, who on July 3 became head coach of the Boston Celtics.
The assistant’s job Craft left at East Carolina was filled by now former Gardner-Webb assistant Mike Netti — creating an opening for Luther.
“The domino effect of college coaching, especially basketball,” Luther said. “This fell in my lap.”
Luther said he likes the fact that Gardner-Webb is a Christian-affiliated institution, which has been the case for most of his playing and coaching career. The move to Division I “gives me an opportunity to broaden my coaching horizons,” he said.
And the key was coaching with Craft.
Luther was a senior at North Florida Christian School in Tallahassee, Fla., when Craft was a ninth-grader in 1991-92. They spent time together working on their basketball skills. Though they never played together on high school or college teams, they did coach against each other as assistants as they followed their career paths, and their families are close.
Another plus for Luther: The Boiling Springs campus is about 30 miles from Spartanburg, S.C., where Luther’s wife Ginny is from. Their two children, son Bryson, 6, and daughter Kendall, 3, will be able to spend more time with her parents.