July 07, 1997
Desmond Oliver has been hired as an assistant men's basketball coach at Texas A&M, head coach Tony Barone said Monday. Oliver replaces Frank Haith, who left last month to accept an assistant coaching position at Wake Forest.
The 27-year-old Oliver served as an assistant coach the last two seasons at Niagara University in Niagara, N.Y. He served as the program's administrative assistant in the 1994-95 season. Prior to joining the Niagara staff, he coached at Turner Carrol High School in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1993-94.
We were inundated with requests about the job and we narrowed our choices to a number of qualified candidates," Barone said. "Desmond rose to the top during the interview process. He is a successful young coach who shares the same vision for our players, academically and athletically, that we have. He will be a tremendous addition to our basketball program because he is a first-class individual who will add even more enthusiasm to our first-class staff."
Oliver is a 1992 graduate of Dominican College, where he was a member of the basketball team for three years. In 1991, he was nominated for the Academic All- America Team and was named to the NAIA Who's Who Among College Athletes. In May 1994, he received a master of science degree in student personnel administration from the State University College in Buffalo.
I'm very excited about this opportunity to coach at Texas A&M and in the Big 12 Conference," Oliver said. "This program has great potential and under the leadership of coach Barone, I see great things happening in the very near future."