AU MEN’S BASKETBALL: Potosnak named assistant

More than two months after assistant John Cooper left Auburn for the head coaching position at Tennessee State, Tigers coach Jeff Lebo found his new right-hand man Tuesday.

Ken Potosnak, a former David Odom assistant at South Carolina, is the Tigers’ new assistant coach.

“I have known Ken for a long time, and we are excited to have him join the Auburn Basketball family,“ Lebo said in a university statement. “Ken’s 20 years of Division I coaching along with his three years of SEC coaching experience will add tremendously to our staff.”

Potosnak, 41, did not coach during the 2008-09 season, but spent the previous three years with the Gamecocks.

When Odom retired after the 2007-08 season, new coach Darrin Horn, who hired an entirely new staff, strongly considered retaining Potosnak because of his strong recruiting abilities, according to The State newspaper in South Carolina.

Potosnak has strong recruiting ties in the Southeast, as all of his jobs before this were in the Carolinas. He served as an assistant at The Citadel from 1992-1997 and then spent eight years at Furman.
He started his career as a graduate assistant at Wake Forest, where he spent two seasons.

At Furman, Potosnak recruited overseas, bringing in All-SoCon selections Guilherme Da Luz (Brazil), Karim Souchu (France) and Malaye Ndoye (Senegal). He is credited with the recruitment of current Gamecocks Mike Holmes and Sam Muldrow, as well as the re-recruitment of transfers Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick, according to The State.

“I am extremely excited to join coach Lebo, his staff and become a part of Auburn University,“ Potosnak said in a statement. “I have always admired Coach Lebo’s teams who we competed against both in the Southeastern Conference and the Southern Conference.

“The combination of the new $92 million Auburn basketball arena and practice facility, a 24-win season and Coach’s longtime success both as a player and a head coach makes for a great opportunity to become a part of the program at this time.“

Potosnak graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., in 1990. As a senior guard in 1990, he was named Randolph-Macon’s Scholar Athlete of the Year. He earned a master’s degree from Wake Forest in 1992.

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