Be Thankful for Dustin Kerns

[groundhog]

The turnaround Dustin Kerns has made in a very short time with this basketball program is deserving of SBC Coach of the Year. We all need to be thankful the train wreck that was Jim Fox is no more. He couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. It was a stroke of great luck that we found a true coach/recruiter like Kerns who really knows what he’s doing.

[NavyApp]

The turnaround Dustin Kerns has made in a very short time with this basketball program is deserving of SBC Coach of the Year. We all need to be thankful the train wreck that was Jim Fox is no more. He couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. It was a stroke of great luck that we found a true coach/recruiter like Kerns who really knows what he’s doing.

100% correct. Had no idea who Coach Kerns was before we hired him, but he was the guy we needed for this moment in time. Establish a culture and identity that our program has lacked for far too long.

[AppStFan1]

The turnaround Dustin Kerns has made in a very short time with this basketball program is deserving of SBC Coach of the Year. We all need to be thankful the train wreck that was Jim Fox is no more. He couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. It was a stroke of great luck that we found a true coach/recruiter like Kerns who really knows what he’s doing.

100% correct. Had no idea who Coach Kerns was before we hired him, but he was the guy we needed for this moment in time. Establish a culture and identity that our program has lacked for far too long.

Totally agree here. Glad we have him. Won't waste time debating how long he will be here and just enjoying that we have him. I have no doubt we could win 20+ games next year with Kerns running the show.

[Stonewall]

He is a really good coach and he has brought in good assistants. They are also quality people that care about the players, on and off the court. We have made major progress and I see no reason it won’t continue.

[AppStateNews]

I do like Kerns, but lets hold the excitement a little. Both Capel and Fox had their best years in year 1. Now, having talked to Kerns several times, I don't think it'll be like the past two. But, lets not judge it based on this year just yet.

[hapapp]

We lose three starters off this team so, next year could be a rebuilding year. The test will come in how well he recruits. That's not to take away from producing our best performance in a decade. I feel more confident with DK at the helm than our previous two coaches, but one year is not a great sample size.

[NavyApp]

While it is fair to maintain a wait and see approach with Coach Kerns, especially with how the last two coach's started and subsequently finished. With that said there are some stark differences with Coach Kerns at the helm that would indicate stability and growth for the program. First is something I haven't seen from an App St basketball coach in ages; in game adjustments. Coach Kerns is continually changing defensive alignments (especially out of time outs) to stifle any rhythm the other team may have. It really is a thing of beauty to watch a team come out of a timeout and have zero clue on how to attack our defense. The second piece for continued success is the commitment to team defense (yes there have been lapses), more often than not this year our team defense has kept us in games even when we couldn't hit the broadside of a barn on offense. It's a tall task to get a team to buy into high energy defense especially when shots are not falling, but it becomes a building block of the winning culture of a program. Lastly when comparing year one against the year ones of our last two coachs I'd ask you to go and look at the rosters each inherited. Both had much deeper rosters with a few more proven commodities to work with. Coach Kerns was not handed that, Forrest and Ike are ball players but the rest of the roster(not including the incoming freshmen) he was given really is not a D1 roster. Gregory (Fox recruit) and Kendell Lewis (huge get by Kerns) are the future and have developed nicely as the year has progressed. Williams has grown by leaps and bounds this year under Kerns and I wish he had a couple more with Coach.

At the end of the day I am not anointing Coach Kerns as the Savior of our program, but I am more confident in the direction, finally feels like we have one, than at any point with Fox or Capel. Getting more depth is going to be key for Kerns to unlock the potential of this team and it will be a tough sell to some just because of where our program has been, but after watching this season I wouldn't bet against Coach. I don't expect to keep him for too long but I have a feeling that when he leaves the program will be on far better footing than when he arrived.

[MAD Doctor]

Very solid first year. Dropping UNC-Concord and EZU was a great start. Looking forward to finishing strong.

[Yosef84]

Kerns and his staff seem to be willing and able to develop talent. They took the same players who struggled last year and actually coached them up! Playing D and making adjustments during games to adapt to the talent and opponent....what a concept!

I don't know what to expect next year but my gut tells me that we won't take a step backwards. If he can match this year's performance with the young roster he will have, then the future indeed looks bright!

[goapps93]

Y'all mean he doesn't just scream at the players?

[beav910]

If you had told me we’d beat ECU, UNCC, and sweep GaSo this year I’d laugh in your face. That alone was enough for me all the rest is just icing on the cake.

[app97]

just noticed that we picked up a PG commit out of Texas...Jordan Ivy-Curry. I didn't see any other offers, but he looks to be a really good ball handler. We now have a PG, a wing, and a 6'10" forward coming in next year. I would imagine that a big banger to replace Seacat is now a big priority. The Huntley kid out of Davidson seems to have huge upside, but he might be more of a finesse player or a stretch 4, much like Ike.

[MrCraig]

If you had told me we’d beat ECU, UNCC, and sweep GaSo this year I’d laugh in your face. That alone was enough for me all the rest is just icing on the cake.

I feel like there wasn't nearly enough emphasis and celebration on this board after we swept Georgia Southern. We could've lost every other game after that second Stink win, and I would've been happy.