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July 18, 2012

Finalist: Recruits key to a fast start

By Devin Golden devingolden@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Jul 18, 2012, 10:33 PM EDT

— Editor’s note: This is the first of four features on the finalists for themen’s head basketball position at Dalton State College.

Carl Nash believes there are local players who would be perfect for Dalton State College’s relaunched men’s basketball program.

And he wants “to go out and find them.”

Nash is one of the four finalists who were named on Tuesday for the Dalton State College men’s basketball head coaching position. Dalton State athletic director Derek Waugh said the finalists will come in for on-campus interviews during the next week and a half.

In addition to Nash, the finalists are former University of Tennessee-Chattanooga head coach Henry Dickerson; Dalton native and former Kennesaw State University head coach Tony Ingle; and former Winthrop University head coach Randy Peele.

The Del Norte, Colo., resident was a Georgia Southern University assistant under head coach Jeff Price from 1999-2009, and he also was an assistant coach at Auburn University and Clemson University in the 1990s.

With the Roadrunners building toward restarting the men’s basketball program for the 2013-2014 school year — about 30 years after ending it at then Dalton Junior College — Nash called it “very exciting” times for the city, school and whoever is hired as the new coach.

“Years ago they were very successful, and I’d love to try and bring that excitement back in a four-year situation,” Nash said in a phone interview Tuesday with The Daily Citizen. “I think there’s so many positives about starting a new program. It’s very challenging and very exciting to be a part of something like that.”

Nash, 53, has 30 years of coaching experience. He said he’s done it all, from small colleges to major ones. What attracts him the most to DSC is the foundation already being built.

“It’s one of those things where it looks like it will work,” Nash said. “The right pieces are in place. I know Georgia very well being at Georgia Southern for 10 years. Being all over the South, I think makes it very attractive for me. I think a lot of it has to do with Derek Waugh there. I think there’s too many positives for someone like me not to be excited about it.”

Nash believes the most important part in continuing to build that foundation is hitting the recruiting trail immediately.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt for any program, especially starting out, it has to be recruiting,” he said. “You have to concentrate on getting the right student-athletes in the program. Especially starting out, you have to get out there and sell without having any background with your program. You have to build it from the bottom up and sell that.”

And from his experience, the first thing you tout to potential recruits — both locally and far away — is the newness factor.

“I think the first thing you have to sell is it’s a new program, and they’re on the ground level of something very special,” Nash said. “For players, you want to be the first of something. To be the first class to play at Dalton State College, that would be very exciting for players. And you have to sell the school itself; it’s a great institution.”

Nash stressed that finding recruits nearby who want to play for the local college is important. They’re out there, Nash said. You just have to find them and bring them in to keep the buzz going, he added.

“I’ve recruited up in the area pretty well,” Nash said. “Being from Georgia, you will have to recruit in the area, and there’s good basketball in Georgia. You’ve got a town and a college that is really ready for basketball.”

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Finalist: Recruits key to a fast start

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