Penn State hires ETSU coach DeChellis

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State has hired one of its own to take over its beleaguered men's basketball program.

East Tennessee State coach Ed DeChellis, a Penn State graduate and former Nittany Lions assistant, will be introduced Thursday as the Big Ten's newest coach. He replaces Jerry Dunn, who resigned last month after back-to-back 7-21 seasons.

"This was a very hard decision to leave East Tennessee State," DeChellis said in an ETSU news release. "As a coach, you always want to compete at the highest level and this opportunity allows me to compete at the highest level of college basketball."

DeChellis compiled an 105-93 record in seven years at East Tennessee State, taking the Buccaneers to this year's NCAA tournament, their first in 11 years.

The Buccaneers finished 20-11 this year after almost upsetting 2nd-seeded Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA's East Regional. Tim Smith's 3-pointer at the buzzer missed, and Wake Forest won 75-73.

A Monaca, Pa., native, DeChellis graduated from Penn State in 1982 and spent two years as an assistant coach at Salem (W.Va.) College before returning to Penn State, where he worked for 10 years as an assistant coach under Bruce Parkhill and Dunn.

"We are thrilled to welcome Ed DeChellis back to Penn State as our new men's basketball coach," Penn State athletic director Tim Curley said. "Ed was a highly-respected member of our basketball staff for 10 years and was instrumental in the recruitment of some of the greatest players to play at Penn State."

DeChellis took over at ETSU in 1996, and soon built the Buccaneers into Southern Conference contenders. ETSU finished 18-10 in both 2001 and 2002, and won the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament this year.

ETSU athletic director Dave Mullins said the school would immediately begin its search for DeChellis' successor.

Dunn was 117-121 in eight seasons at Penn State, including leading the Nittany Lions to the NCAA Regional Semifinals in 2001, the school's best finish in nearly 50 years. But his teams struggled the last two years. Dunn resigned on March 17, and has not spoken publicly.

 

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