Ford names assistant coaches

May 16, 2008 11:30 am

— Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford has added three assistant coaches and an administrator to the Cowboy coaching staff, he announced Thursday.
Joining Ford’s staff are Butch Pierre, who comes to OSU from Louisiana State; Chris Ferguson, who remains on the Cowboys’ staff; and Steve Middleton, who joins the OSU staff after spending the last three seasons under Ford at Massachusetts.
Ford has also retained Joseph Biggs, who serves as OSU’s assistant athletic director for basketball.
“I’m excited about the staff we’ve put together,” said Ford, adding that he will look to fill several more positions on his staff over the next few weeks. “It’s a staff that has a lot of strengths in a lot of different areas.
“These guys will be able to develop student-athletes on and off the court, as well as develop great recruiting relationships. Most importantly, they are all great family guys and they are not afraid to work extremely hard to make OSU basketball better.”
Pierre spent the last 11 seasons at LSU. He was named the Tigers’ associate head coach in 2002 and served as the Tigers’ interim head coach for the final 10 games of the 2007-08 season.
During his tenure at LSU, Pierre helped lead the Tigers to five postseason appearances, including a berth in the 2006 Final Four, as well as Southeastern Conference titles in 2000 and 2006. He also coached five players that went on to play in the NBA.
Known as a top recruiter, Pierre helped LSU land four McDonald’s All-Americans, nine Parade All-Americans, six junior college All-Americans and two players who earned JUCO player of the year honors.
The 45-year old Pierre has also had assistant coaching stints at Charlotte, Louisiana-Lafayette and Kentucky State.
In Ferguson, the Cowboys retain an assistant who just completed his first season at OSU. A coaching veteran of more than 20 years, Ferguson has previously served as an assistant at East Carolina and Tennessee, also serving as an associate head coach at both schools, as well as Virginia Tech, Appalachian State and UNC-Asheville.
In his eight seasons at Tennessee, Ferguson helped lead the Vols to six consecutive postseason appearances, including four straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1998, ’99, 2000 and ’01). UT advanced to the second round in ’99 before earning a Sweet 16 berth the following season.
“I’m excited that (Ferguson) is staying on,” Ford said. “He brings a lot of knowledge about this area and our team, and he has a great reputation as a person and a coach. He has great relationships with and respect from his players, and I’ve seen that really quickly in the time that I’ve been here.”
Middleton has been an assistant on Ford’s staffs at both UMass and Eastern Kentucky. Known for his outstanding work with post players, Middleton helped lead EKU to a school-record 22 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2005.
At UMass, Middleton was part of a staff that led the Minutemen to the Atlantic 10 regular-season title two years ago and to the NIT title game last season.
“(Middleton has) been with me for the past six years, and he understands my system and what I look for in student-athletes,” Ford said.
“He’s great in recruiting, coaching and developing players, and he takes great pride in mentoring players on and off the court.”