Maryland assistant basketball coach Chuck Driesell is to be named head coach at The Citadel, according to three sources with knowledge of his plans.
An announcement is likely in the next few days. Driesell will succeed Ed Conroy, who was named head coach at Tulane earlier this month. The Citadel, which has nine rising seniors, was 16-16 (9-9 Southern Conference) last season.
Driesell arrived at Maryland in 2006, spending four years on Gary Williams' staff at the school where Driesell's father, Charles `Lefty" Driesell, won 348 games while coaching from 1969-86.
Maryland just learned of the hiring. A search for Driesell's replacement will begin immediately.
The younger Driesell, a former Maryland player who graduated in 1985, had previously been head coach at Virginia's Bishop Ireton High School and at Marymount University (Division III) in Arlington, Va He was a Georgetown University assistant in 2003-04 and also worked as a James Madison assistant under his father .
Jon Cole, spokesman for The Citadel basketball team, said he could not confirm Driesell's hiring. The Citadel athletic director is Larry Leckonby, formerly the chief financial officer for Maryland's athletic department.
Driesell was unavailable for comment through Maryland's media relations office. Sources familiar with the expected move declined to be named because the move had not been announced.
The Citadel is a military school. Driesell's first coaching job was at the United States Naval Prep School from 1985-88.
Driesell has been one one of three Maryland assistants along with Keith Booth and Robert Ehsan. The Terps have made the NCAA tournament the past two seasons, advancing to the second round each time.
Driesell will join a number of Maryland assistants who have left for head coaching jobs. The list includes Mike Lonergan (Vermont), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola) and Dave Dickerson (Tulane), who is now an assistant at Ohio State.
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