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St. Francis Picks Porter, And Van Lier Is UpsetLORETTO, Pa. (AP) -St. Francis College of Loretto has named former Detroit Pistons guard Kevin Porter, a 1972 graduate of the school, as its new basketball coach.Porter, who also played for the Washington Bullets and the New Jersey Nets in his National Basketball Association career, replaces Dave Magarity, who was fired.Magarity was St. Francis* coach for five seasons, compiling a 69-76 record. He said he was “stunned” by the firing, which came several months after the season and while he was recruiting for 1983-84.Magarity was named the NCAA Division I District III coach of the year afterthe 1980-81 season, in which the Red Flash compiled a 17-10 record and played in the National Invitation Tburhament. ,Porter played at St. Francis immediately after star guard'Norm Van Lier had ended his career and wound up following Van Lier to the NBA.Porter’s top assistant coach will be Jeff Nix, who was retained by the school when Magarity was released from his contract.Porter played at St. Francis * from 1968-72, scoring 1,766 points to rank as the second leading scorer in school history. The leader is Maurice Stokes, who scored 2,282 points.Porter scored a career-high 40 points against Oral Roberts in 1982 and led the Red Flash to records of 16-8 in 1968-69 and 15-10 in 1970-71. He averaged 23.6 points a game as a sophomore, 23.0 as a junior and 24.6 as a senior.LORETTO, Pa. (AP) — Former National Basketball Association star Norm Van Lier says his alma mater, St. Francis College, “led me on” after he specified his salary requirements to become head basketball coach.Van Lier said he was led to believe the job was his, but he wasn t even interviewed for the job when he learned it had gone to another alumni.Kevin Porter was named as coach last week.Magarity was reportedly paid less than $20,000 a season, believed to be the lowest salary earned by an NCAA Division I coach. Van Lier reportedly wanted $50,000 a year on a three-year contract, but Porter will receive much less, the Beaver County (Pa.) Times reported.“I was led to believe the job was mine if I wantedit,” Van Lier told the newspaper. “They asked me to set aside a date for an interview, and I did. I was supposed to go up there, but I never got a call. I thought that was unprofessional.”Magarity recently leveled similar charges against Jeff Quin, who has headed the school’s athletic program for two years and also led the search for the new coach.Magarity said he can’t understana why .he was fired two months after the 1982-83 season, when he was still trying to recruit players. He charged that Quin, who has a minimal sports background, has little understanding of what it takes to run a major college basketball program.Quin acknowledged that he recently misinterpreted National Collegiate4 ' f * * * ' d *Athletic Association rules, leaving St. Francis unable to compete in Division I during the 1983-84 season. The NCAA ruled that St. Francis did not comply with regulations that schools must offer qight varsity sports.St. Francis is the only one of 277 NCAA Division I schools that failed to satisfy the requirement.“It’s my alma mater and I wish them well,” said Van Lier, a former Chicago Bulls’ player who now lives in Seattle. “But at the same time, it’s just as well that I’m here.”“I’m happy for Kevin,” Van Lier said. “He’s a good friend. Where I’m upset is I wasn’t told. I heard it from a newspaper person. Being an alumnus of St. Francis, I was upset it wasn’t handled better toward me. I’m upset with Jeff Quin.”
Newspaper Details
Clearfield Progress
Clearfield, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Jul 20, 1983
Page 40
Full Page
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NY, USA 11 Jul 2020
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