June 13, 2007
George Mason men's basketball coach Jim Larranaga announced on Wednesday the addition of two new members to the staff for the 2007-08 season. Michael Huger has been named an assistant coach, replacing James Johnson who left to become an assistant at Virginia Tech, and Kenten Dernbach has been named Director of Men's Basketball Operations, replacing Joe Barrer who departed for a high school teaching and coaching position in Chicago.
Huger a former player under Larranaga, spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Longwood University under Mike Gillian, a former Mason assistant coach under Larranaga. Huger spent 12 years playing professional basketball in Europe prior to joining the staff at Longwood.
"Michael Huger was a terrific player for us at Bowling Green and enjoyed a stellar pro career in Europe," said Larranaga. " We always knew he planned to coach once his playing days were over. Michael was an extremely bright and skilled player. He is now an extremely bright and skilled young coach. He will add a lot of basketball savvy to our staff and be a great mentor to our players. We are fortunate to have him join our program. He is a class guy."
A native of New York City, Huger led Stevenson High School to back-to-back PSAL City Championships in 1988 and 1989. After graduating from the Bronx high school, he played four years at Bowling Green State University from 1989-93 for Larranaga. Huger helped lead BGSU to the NIT twice and he received Mid-American Conference honors as a junior and a senior. In his final year at Bowling Green, he was runner-up for Conference Player of the Year as well a Naismith Award nominee. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education from BGSU in 1994.
Huger played in Finland during the 1993-94 season, spent two years in Holland (199-4-96) and spent his final nine years as a player in Belgium, from 1996-2005. In 1995-96, he was the Dutch League's MVP averaging 25.3 points and 5.8 assists. He also earned first-team All-Belgium honors in 2000 and 2004, leading his clubs to Belgium Cup Championships those seasons.
Dernbach, a native of Almond, Wisc., has a bachelor's degree from Carthage College and a master's degree from Ohio State. He earned a dual degree in Psychology and Sports Management at Carthage while playing on a Division III Final Four team. His master's degree is in Sport and Exercise Management. Dernbach coached high school basketball and has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Marymount University.
"Kent Dernbach is a young, aggressive, extremely likeable young man," said Larranaga. "He has a great work ethic and not afraid to take on responsibility. He will give us much needed experience in the position of Director of Basketball Operations which requires balancing many roles. In two short years, Kent has developed a great network in the coaching fraternity in this area which should be very beneficial."
