Virginia basketball coach Pete Gillen finally found a replacement to fill the void left by his long time assistant Tommy Herrion.
Gillen announced July 17 that former Boise State head coach Rod Jensen will fill Virginia's latest assistant coach vacancy after Herrion left in early April to coach at the College of Charleston.
Jensen is known for his defensive coaching skills and knowledge, acquired through 22 years of coaching experience in the college ranks. He spent the past seven years coaching division I Boise State, where he compiled a 109-93 record.
"We are thrilled to have Rod Jensen join our Virginia basketball family," Gillen said in a release. "Rod is a very talented coach who has enjoyed success both as a college assistant and as a head coach at Boise State University."
"Rod will help us in all areas of our basketball program and he will be especially helpful in the improvement of our defense," Gillen said.
Jensen is considered by many analysts to be an important addition to the Cavalier family, because of his defensive prowess. Known for a tough match-up zone (think in the mold of Temple's John Cheney zone), Jensen might have the answers for a Virginia defense that struggled down the stretch in 2002.
As the Cavaliers collapsed in February, they allowed eight of their last 10 opponents to shoot more than 50 percent from the field. The prospect of lending a helping hand to turn around the Cavalier's defense is what led Jensen to Virginia.
"It has been my life-long dream to coach, and to have the opportunity to continue coaching at a great university, in a great conference and under a great coach is exciting," Jensen said in a release. "I am ecstatic to be coming to U.Va."
If Jensen's success at Boise State is any indication of how he could influence the Cavaliers, fans of Virginia basketball should be excited about the new hire. In his seven years as head coach, Jensen won 109 games, went to three NCAA tournaments as an assistant at the school in the early 1990s and won the Big West Conference Eastern Division Title in 1999.
The 1975 graduate of the University of the Redlands was an assistant coach at his alma mater for two years, before coaching at division I Penn State for one season.
Because Jensen is new to the school and system, Gillen is having Jensen concentrate on the players and schemes alone. Gillen will not give up his up and down style of play, so he will have Jensen teach the players the basics of a match-up zone, while primarily concentrating on the man-to-man defense. Virginia hopes Jensen can drill fundamentals into players during individual sessions, which means he will not see the recruiting trail this season.
"Rod will not be on the road recruiting at this time, but will be working on the floor with our players and in individual instruction sessions," Gillen said.
Along with Jensen's hiring comes a reshuffling of responsibilities among the coaching staff. Since Jensen will not be on the road recruiting, Gillen promoted Alexis Sherard to assistant coach after a year as director of basketball operations. Scott Shepherd will take over as director of basketball operations with Sherard's promotion. Virginia's other assistant coach, Walt Fuller, who is one of Virginia's best recruiters, will continue as one of the Cavaliers' primary recruiters and will carry a heavy load of responsibilities during the season.
"Alexis Sherard will be on the road as a full-time assistant with the recruiting responsibilities of a full-time assistant coach," Gillen said. "Scott Shepherd is going to be the director of basketball operations for the next year and there is an excellent chance he will assume another position on the staff the following year"
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