Clark Names New Assistant Coach
July 9, 2003
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head men’s basketball coach Perry Clark announces the hiring of Kurtis Townsend, 45, to the position of assistant coach.
“Kurtis (Townsend) is a wonderful addition to our coaching staff,” said Clark. “He has coached at some of the top programs in the country, and brings a wealth of experience from both a coaching and recruiting standpoint.”
Townsend joins the Hurricanes having served the last 10 seasons as an assistant coach at several of the nation’s top programs including Southern California, Michigan, California and Western Kentucky.
Townsend spent the last two seasons at USC helping guide the Trojans to the Pac-10 tournament championship game last season. In 2001-02, his first season with the Trojans, USC finished 22-10, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation by the Associated Press.
Prior to his stint at USC, Townsend spent three seasons at Michigan helping lead the Wolverines to NIT in 2000. He was an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky in 1997-98 following four seasons at California (1993-97), where he helped coach the Golden Bears to three NCAA Tournament appearances (1994, 1996, 1997), including a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 1997.
Over the last 10 seasons Townsend has proven himself to be one the top recruiters in college basketball, and has either coached or recruited numerous NBA players including Jason Kidd, Lamond Murray, Tremaine Fowlkes, Shareef Abdul-Rahim, Ed Gray, Sean Marks, Michael Stewart, Jamal Crawford and Lou Bullock.
Townsend began his coaching career on the high school level in San Jose, California having served as an assistant coach at Leland High (1984-87) and Del Mar High (1987-89).
He took over the head coaching duties at Leigh High in 1989 and in his two seasons led his squad to a pair of league championships and two consecutive State Section Titles. In 1991 took over at Willow Glen High guiding the school to two league championships as well two State Sectional semifinal appearances during his two-year tenure.
As a player Townsend played point guard at Western Kentucky for two seasons (1978-80) helping the Hilltoppers to the 1980 Ohio Valley Conference title and an NCAA Tournament berth. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree for Western Kentucky in 1982.
Prior to transferring to Western Kentucky, Townsend played two seasons at Menlo (CA) Junior College earning first-team All-State and honorable-mention All-America honors in 1978.
