May 9, 2003

FAIRFAX, Va. - Scott Cherry will return to the George Mason men's basketball program as an assistant coach, head coach Jim Larranaga announced Friday. Cherry, who worked for three seasons at Mason with Larranaga from 1999-00 to 2001-02, spent this past season as an assistant at Tennessee Tech University, where he helped guide the Golden Eagles to a 20-12 record and a trip to the Ohio Valley Conference championship game.

"I'm really excited about coming back to George Mason," explained Cherry. "I didn't want to leave in the first place, but with things the way they were, I had an opportunity to work at Tennessee Tech, so at the time that was the best decision for me.

"When I left, I knew that I wanted to come back because George Mason was such a nice environment. I know the school, the administration, and the area, and that will help make for a comfortable transition for me and my family."

In his three years with the Patriot program, Cherry was on the staff of Mason's 2001 Colonial Athletic Association championship team that lost 83-80 to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and was a member of the 2002 squad that hosted the school's first postseason National Invitation Tournament game.

Cherry replaces former Mason assistant Mike Gillian, who left last week to become the new head coach at Longwood University.

"I'm excited for Mike and I'm sorry to see him go," said Cherry. "But, I'll still get the opportunity to work with a staff I'm familiar with in Jim Larranaga and [assistant coach] Bill Courtney. I've met [assistants] Eric Konkol and Chris Caputo, and I look forward to working with them as well."

"We are very excited about having Scott Cherry return to the George Mason basketball family," stated Larranaga. "He was well-respected among the members of the athletic department and the administration. Scott allows our basketball program to keep its continuity, and it should be a smooth transition for our players since many of them were here when Scott was a member of our staff two years ago."

A 1993 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cherry was a four-year letterwinner under Dean Smith, and was a member of the 1993 NCAA championship squad. Following his graduation, Cherry played professionally for one season for the AEL Basketball Club in Limassol, Cyprus.

Prior to his first arrival in Fairfax, Cherry, a native of Ballston Spa, NY, and a graduate of Saratoga Central Catholic High School, served as the head junior varsity and assistant varsity boys basketball coach at Bishop McGuinness High School in Winston-Salem, NC, during the 1997-98 season. He worked as an administrative assistant for the North Carolina men's basketball program from March-August 1998, and went on to become an assistant women's basketball coach at Middle Tennessee State University for the 1998-99 season.

Cherry will officially begin his duties as assistant coach next week.