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Report: Appalachian State in negotiations to fill coaching vacancy

Appalachian State

Around midday on Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported Jim Fox, a longtime assistant to Bob McKillop at Davidson who had recently been promoted to associate head coach, was in negotiations to be the next coach at Appalachian State. Nothing is done yet, as evidenced by any iteration of the coaching carousel, but talks must be serious since a leak like Goodman’s occurred.

Fox is an intriguing candidate, partly because he was listed by Pete Thamel (of Sports Illustrated) as a candidate who should land a head coaching job during this offseason. As McKillop’s assistant for years, he understands what it takes to build a program, and ensure lasting success, and that experience could serve him well, provided he lands the job, as the team makes the transition to the Sun Belt Conference.

If Fox is indeed the athletic administration’s choice, the fate of Devonte Graham will likely be one of his first coaching decisions. A quick back-story: Graham committed to Appalachian State under Jason Capel, but after Graham decided maybe the program wasn’t for him, the guard wasn’t granted a release and he enrolled at Brewster Academy for a year. Graham hasn’t been allowed to speak with any other Division I programs -- he is essentially on an island at Brewster, a highly coveted recruit who doesn’t want to attend the school he initially committed to -- and this scenario needs to be resolved for both parties, ASU and Graham. When Capel’s contract wasn’t renewed, it was unclear what that action meant for Graham, and whomever -- Fox or another option -- becomes coach will have to either release Graham or somehow sell him on the direction he intends to take the program and convince him to be a Mountaineer.

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