UM Basketball Announces Staff Changes
June 18, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head men’s basketball coach Frank Haith has announced changes to the coaching and support staff including the promotion of Jorge Fernandez to associate head coach and Michael Schwartz to assistant coach as well as the addition of former Hurricane Jake Morton as an assistant coach and Toby Lane as associate director of basketball operations.
Fernandez’s appointment to associate head coach comes on the heels of the completion of his third season at UM. Over the past three seasons as an assistant coach he has helped lead Miami to nine wins over ranked opponents, including a school-record tying four over ranked teams in 2006-07, as well as back-to-back postseason appearances in 2005 and 2006.
“Jorge has been a tremendous asset to this program,” said Haith. “Much of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the past three seasons is because of his hard work and dedication to making this program succeed.”
Schwartz, who has served as the Hurricanes’ coordinator of basketball operations for each of the past two seasons, will begin his second stint as an assistant coach having previously served as an assistant at the University of Texas San Antonio during the 2004-05 season.
Prior to joining the staff at Texas San Antonio, he served as the men’s basketball video coordinator at the University of Texas for two seasons (2002-04). Schwartz played basketball at Texas in 1998-99 and was a member of the Longhorns Big XII championship team.
Schwartz graduated from Texas in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications studies and served as a graduate assistant at Texas from 1999 until 2001.
“I am very excited about the promotion of Michael Schwartz as an assistant coach,” said Haith. “He has done a tremendous job as our coordinator of basketball operations over the past two seasons and I look forward to having that same tireless work ethic in the capacity of an assistant coach on this staff.”
Morton returns to his alma mater following a three-year tenure at James Madison where he served as an assistant coach under JMU head coach Dean Keener.
Prior to joining the JMU staff in 2004, Morton served as an assistant coach at St. Francis (Pa.) from 2000-04 following a one-year stay at Bowie State during the 1999-00 campaign.
A four-year letterwinner at Miami from 1988-93, Morton tallied 909 points, 245 rebound and 194 assists during his UM career. His name scattered throughout the Hurricane record books, Morton ranks seventh all-time in UM history in three-pointers made (136), eighth in three-pointers attempted (390) and 12th in career three-point percentage (.349).
During the 1989-90 season, he recorded a team-high 45 steals while averaging 11.0 points per game as a sophomore. That same season, he garnered the team’s “Hustle” award – an honor he would earn again following the 1991-92 season – and was named the team’s defensive player of the year three separate times.
Morton graduated from UM in 1993 with a degree in general studies and went on to play professionally in Israel for six years.
“Having the opportunity to bring in someone like Jake Morton is exciting,” said Haith. “Obviously, being a UM alum, he is going to have an unmatched dedication to this university, but along with that he brings an impressive background as both a player and coach.”
Lane, whose duties at UM will include coordinating video operations, supervising recruiting mail outs and serving as a liaison with the team managerial staff, comes to Miami after serving as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State for the last three seasons.
Prior to his three-year stay at Southeast Missouri State he served as the video coordinator at the University of Oklahoma from 2002-04.
A 1993 graduate of Wichita State University, Lane’s background also includes stops at Long Beach State, where he served as the strength and conditioning coach and administrative assistant from 2001-02, and the University of Central Oklahoma, where he served as an assistant coach from 1999-01 and as a graduate assistant from 1997-99.
“Toby is a great addition to this program,” said Haith. “He has been around several very successful programs and, along with coaching, has served in a variety of different capacities which is something we think will be very beneficial to our program.”
