Posted by Matt NorlanderIt is official. Per a press release from the school Sunday night, Texas A&M has hired Murray State coach Billy Kennedy to be Mark Turgeon's successor in College Station. CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish tweeted earlier in the day that the move was imminent.
The university considered a number of candidates in its week-long search, but it apparently came down to Kennedy and Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson, with the former getting the go-ahead from A&M brass, spearheaded by school athletic director Bill Byrne.
The 47-year-old Kennedy was an assistant at Texas A&M two decades ago, but he's made the most inroads while coaching at Murray State, where he took the Racers to the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament. He was the Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year twice in his five seasons at MSU. He had a 107-53 record there.
"I can't wait to get back to Aggieland," Kennedy said in the school's press release. "Even though I was there for only a short time, I could tell Aggieland is a special place. Aggies have great pride and passion for their school and their athletic programs. I have watched with interest the recent success and the NCAA Tournament appearances the past six years. I look forward to meeting the team and working toward a seventh NCAA bid as well as even deeper tournament runs."
Kennedy's press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET Monday afternoon.
And so the dominoes continue to clack. Now Murray State is on the run for a coach, though it's likely the chain reaction will end there, as the Racers could very well promote an assisant in-house or look to hire an assistant from another school.
Photo: AP
