Columbus, GA - Exactly one year ago, Doug Branson was named the interim head coach for the Columbus State University men’s basketball program, stepping in after the retirement of Herbert Greene. Today, Branson becomes the fifth head coach in CSU history as the interim tag is officially removed from his title. Branson was selected from a list of five finalists for the position after a grueling search process performed by the Mens’ Basketball Search Committee, Greene, and CSU President Dr. Frank Brown.
“I am truly honored to be named the head coach at Columbus State University,” said Branson. “I know there were some quality candidates who applied for this job and I am honored that the committee and coach Greene had the faith in me to give me this opportunity.”
The announcement of Branson culminates a process that began in mid February. Resumes were accepted until March 15 and the search committee went to work on the more than 50 applications received, narrowing the field to five finalists. Each of the five finalists came to the campus for interviews and the committee then made its recommendation to Greene and Dr. Brown.“
The search committee did a wonderful job, spending a lot of hours and doing a lot of leg work to come up with some excellent candidates. They were very thorough and paid a lot of attention to details in selecting five outstanding candidates. We would like to thank them for their time and effort in this,” said Greene.
“We looked everywhere and came back to the success that our program has had since Doug has been here. Then we factored in his loyalty, his love for CSU, and his devotion to this job. The choice became clear in the end. We are excited about the future of CSU men’s basketball under Doug Branson,” added Greene.
Branson returns a solid nucleus from the 17-12 team he guided in 2006-07. He and his team encountered its share of adversity in 2007 when three players - two of them starters - were dismissed from the team for violating team and school policy. Branson engineered a totally new scheme for the remainder of the season and salvaged a remarkable season in winning 17 games before losing to Lander in the PBC Tournament quarterfinal round.
“We (Branson and wife Toni) came here thinking it would be a stop along the way, but we fell in love with the university and the community and now Columbus is our home. I look forward to leading this program and continuing the success that Herbert Greene established and adding to that success by advancing the program even further,” said Branson.
Source: Columbus State University Sports Information
Analysis: It comes as no surprise that Doug Branson was named the permanent men's basketball head coach at Columbus State, considering what the Cougars went through last season. Naming Branson the head coach will hopefully continue the winning tradition former head and predecessor Herbert Greene established at CSU, not to mention continue to build one of the premier NCAA Division II programs in the nation.
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