|
When Titans head coach Perry Watson needed to round
out his coaching staff during the summer, one
applicant in particular rang a bell with the UDM
head man. The would-be UDM assistant turned out to
be the man actually hired for the job and he's one
of coach Watson's former Detroit Southwestern High
School players, Garland Mance.
Mance completes a trio of assistants who all played
for coach Watson at one stage in their careers,
joining associate head coach Kevin Mondro and
assistant Bacari Alexander, each of whom are former
Titans.
The 33-year-old Mance spent the last four seasons on
the Rutgers staff under Gary Waters, the final three
years there as associate head coach. While at the
Big East school, Mance's responsibilities included
off-campus recruiting, scouting, game preparation
and working with the team's post players. He will
have similar duties at Detroit.
Before his stint at Rutgers, Mance had served six
seasons as an assistant coach with Kent State,
working with Waters for the last five of them. Mance
helped lead the Golden Flashes to two NCAA
Tournament berths and one NIT appearance during his
tenure at Kent State. Mance began his college
coaching career as an assistant at during the
1994-95 season under current Boston College head
coach Al Skinner.
During Mance's earlier association with coach
Watson, Detroit Southwestern was Detroit prep
basketball's dominant program. The Prospectors were
ranked No. 2 in the nation during Mance's senior
year and his Southwestern teammates included current
NBA players Jalen Rose, Howard Eisely and Voshon
Leonard.
"Garland will have a tremendous impact on Titan
basketball," coach Watson said. "He brings a wealth
of experience, ability and recruiting contact to UDM
through his association with the Big East, the
Mid-American Conference and the Atlantic-10
Conference."
Collegiately, Mance was a four-year basketball
letterman at St. Bonaventure. He twice received the
Bonnies' Defensive Player of the Year Award, and he
also earned his team's Sportsmanship Award and Most
Improved Player Award during his tenure there. Mance
is one of just a handful of former Bonnies who
scored more than 1,000 points and also grabbed more
than 500 rebounds during his career. Following
graduation, Mance received a tryout with the NBA's
Seattle SuperSonics prior to embarking on his career
in college coaching.
Mance received a bachelor's degree in political
science, with a minor in education, from St.
Bonaventure in 1994. He earned his master's degree
in sports administration from Kent State in 2000. |
