DENTON (5/3/06) -- University of North Texas head men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones has announced that Bill Foy, former head men’s basketball coach of NJCAA national champion Paris (Texas) Junior College, has been named an assistant coach for the Mean Green.
The 2004-05 NJCAA Coach of the Year replaces Fred Rike on the North Texas coaching staff. Rike recently became the head men’s basketball coach at Angelo State University.
Foy, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., compiled a 227-125 record during his 11-year tenure as head coach of the Paris Junior College Dragons basketball team. His teams advanced to the finals of the NJCAA Region XIV state tournament five times over the last eight years and won the NJCAA national championship in March of 2005. Paris Junior College became the first unranked team to win the national championship since 1996 when Sullivan College of Louisville, Kentucky, won the title.
"Coach Foy will be a great addition to the North Texas basketball family," said Coach Jones. "He is a proven winner. Coach Foy’s knowledge as a basketball coach and his experience as a recruiter will help us have continued success as we strive to build a championship program."
While at PJC, Foy was twice named the Region XIV Coach of the Year and in addition to his NJCAA Coach of the Year honors in 2005, he was also named the NABC and TABC Coach of the Year the same season. Most recently, he led the Dragons to the 2006 NJCAA Region XIV Conference championship with an 18-4 league record.
His coaching career includes four years at the public school level in Texas, one year (1986-87) as an assistant at SMU, two years (1987-89) as an assistant at Blinn (Texas) College, one year (1989-90) as an assistant at Union (Ky.) College and five years (1990-95) as head coach at Lee (Texas) College before going to Paris Junior College.
"I’m excited about this opportunity to join Coach Jones and his staff at North Texas," said Coach Foy. "I feel it is a great opportunity to work under a person of Coach Jones’ stature. Coach Jones definitely has the program heading in the right direction."
Foy received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1982 and his master’s degree from Prairie View A&M University in 1989.
