Great South Athletic Conference

For Immediate Release
August 15 , 2006

Maryville College names Pardue as women's basketball coach

Maryville College named its new women’s basketball coach to the media, campus community and public during a press conference held at the College’s Cooper Athletic Center today. Officially starting his new duties Aug. 28, Coach Jeffrey Pardue will begin preparing for the upcoming season.

Pardue, formerly the assistant men’s and women’s basketball coach and NCAA compliance coordinator at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., replaces Coach Dee Bell, who accepted a position to become the women’s basketball coach at Reinhardt College in mid July.

“I’m excited about and thankful for the opportunity to coach the Maryville College women’s basketball team,” Pardue said at the press conference. “This is a great opportunity that a lot of coaches would like to have.”

The new coach said he had been on campus for nearly two days and had not “ceased to be impressed with the professionalism and class that [he had] experienced” at the College.

“I’m excited about joining one of the best small-college athletic departments in the United States and one of the best small colleges in the United States. And the women’s basketball program here at Maryville College is synonymous in this region with championships.

“I’m excited and proud to be a part of this.”

In introducing the new coach to the media, members of the campus community and alumni, Maryville College Athletic Director Randy Lambert explained that approximately 25 people applied for the position. A committee composed of Lambert, Associate Athletic Director Kandis Schram and two current basketball players narrowed the pool to two for on-campus interviews.

“We wanted to bring in the best male candidate and the best female candidate,” and I believe we did that,” Lambert said. “At the end of the interviews, we felt like the most qualified and the one with the most experience was Jeff Pardue. He has coached on every level you can coach on his coaching path. I think he has the experience to continue the winning tradition of women’s basketball here.”

The new coach’s employment background has included positions utilizing both his interest in college-level basketball and his bachelor’s degree in business/economics. He is a 1989 graduate of King College in Bristol, Tenn.

Prior to joining the staff at Lees-McRae in 1999, he was an assistant basketball coach at Coastal Carolina University (1993-1996) and LaGrange College (1992-1993). In his junior and senior years at King College, he served as a student coach for the junior varsity basketball team.

Pardue’s business experience has included positions such as a NASCAR motorsport promotion sales representative and a recruiting/training program coordinator for Amtran Logistics.

In joining the Maryville College Athletic Department, Pardue inherits a program that has posted five consecutive Great South Athletic Conference regular-season titles, four conference championships and five consecutive NCAA national tournament appearances.

At the press conference, the new coach said he had spoken to four returning players and hoped to meet more during upcoming open gym sessions at Boydson Baird Gymnasium. Pardue said for the 2006-2007 season, he will rely on the experience of returning players to “continue to do what’s been done here for the last several years.”

When asked about recruiting plans, Pardue said Blount County and its surrounding counties were a “hotbed for women’s basketball” and looked forward to scouting local talent. He said he would continue to maintain strong recruiting connections in North Carolina, as well.

At the conclusion of the press conference, Pardue told attendees that he also looks forward to moving to Maryville and building “lifetime relationships” at the campus – relationships that would extend beyond one, two or three years, adding that he hoped to coach generations of women’s basketball players at MC.

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Pardue will also assume duties as compliance coordinator and game manager for football and men’s and women’s cross-country.

Courtesy Maryville College