Cunningham rounds out staff
Published 11:00 pm Friday, May 31, 2013
Troy head basketball coach Phil Cunningham wants to put some energy into the program, and has completed a coaching staff that he feels can do just that.
Earlier this week Cunningham announced the hiring of three members of his program to round out his staff. Billy Begley will be an assistant coach, Mike Worley will be the director of operations and Michael Moynihan will handle the video coordinator role.
Begley joins Cunningham’s staff as an assistant coach, a position he held at East Mississippi Community College for the previous three seasons. Before getting in to coaching, Begley was a three-time team captain for Mississippi State, a four-time Academic All-SEC selection and was also a member of the 2007-08 SEC Good Works Team.
“He was captain at Mississippi State for a couple of years, and that says a lot about him and what kind of leadership he possesses,” Cunningham said. “He worked with me as a student assistant, and I noticed how hard he worked every day and wanted to get better. Everywhere he has been, he has been part of winning programs.”
Worley comes to Troy after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. Last season, the Rangers went 27-5 and earned an at-large berth into the NJCAA National Tournament. Kilgore advanced to the tournament’s second round and finished the season ranked 15th in the NJCAA Top 25 Poll.
Cunningham believes that Worley brings more than a winning reputation with him to Troy.
“Mike is a Christian guy, and I always like to have that influence on my team,” said Cunningham. “He has a strong character and morals, as well as having a great basketball mind.”
Moynihan, the grandson of Cunningham’s mentor Lefty Driesell, spent last season as an assistant coach at Division II Young Harris College in Young Harris, Ga. The Mountain Lions went 17-9 in 2012-13, their first season in the Peach Belt Conference and Moynihan’s only season with the team.
The youth of Moynihan, combined with his knowledge of the game is a win/win situation for Troy, Cunningham feels.
“He is a young guy that really wants to make it in this business,” said Cunningham. “He has a fire that is going to be a great asset to our team. He also spent a year learning from Pete Herbert, who I feel is one of the best coaches in the nation.”
The three hires complete Cunningham’s staff, which saw the hiring of Marcus Grant and the retaining of Ben Fletcher earlier this year.