Lady Eagle Basketball Announces Lee Buchanan As Associate Head Coach
5/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lady Eagle Basketball Announces Lee Buchanan
As Associate Head Coach
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss Head Women's Basketball Coach Rick Reeves has announced the hiring of Lee Buchanan as the Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Southern Miss. He will begin his duties effective July 1, 2002.
"I'm really excited about Lee Buchanan joining our program as the Associate Head Coach," Reeves said. "He not only brings years of successful coaching experience, but also is an outstanding teacher of the game of basketball. He is a welcomed addition to our staff and will greatly enhance our efforts of taking Lady Eagle Basketball back to the level in which it once enjoyed."
Buchanan comes to Southern Miss after completing a highly successful head coaching stint at NCAA Division II perennial-power Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. In his four years at FMU, he compiled a 92-29 record, including a 54-13 record in Peach Belt Athletic Conference play and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16" three-consecutive seasons from 1999-2001.
His Francis Marion squads have been consistently ranked in the top 25 all four years and reached as high as No. 2 in 1999. The second winningest coach in the school's history, Buchanan led FMU to its first-ever Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship in 1999, posting a perfect 16-0 record. He coached two All-American players and four all-conference members that attained all-conference status seven times.
Before his stint at Francis Marion, Buchanan served as the head women's basketball coach at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky., from 1986-98, developing the program from its infancy into a national contender.
In his 12 seasons at Brescia, he compiled a 230-118 record, while guiding the Lady Bearcats to three-straight NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances. Brescia reached the "Sweet 16" in its first national tournament appearance in 1995 and advanced to the "Elite 8" in its final season of Division II status in 1997. Buchanan guided the program into the first year of NAIA Division I status, advancing to the regional final before ending his season. The Lady Bearcats won three Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season titles and one Mid-South Regional championship.
At Brescia, his teams were ranked consistently ranked among the top 25, reaching as high as No. 3 at the end of the 1997 season. He coached two All-Americans, numerous all-conference selections and was named conference, district and regional coach the year five times during his tenure. Buchanan also served as Director of Athletics at Brescia from 1992-1998 and Sports Information Director from 1988-1994.
"Working for Rick Reeves and The University of Southern Mississippi is a great opportunity for me as I take the next step and advance my career at the NCAA Division I level," Buchanan said. "Rick has an outstanding reputation in the women's basketball profession, and I look forward to working with him on his staff. Southern Miss has great tradition and competes in an outstanding conference. I also look forward to joining the Lady Eagles' staff and helping them reach their goals of developing an outstanding program that competes at the highest level."