ECAC Transactions

April 18, 2011

Saint Anselm AD Jo-Ann Nester will retire at the end of the academic year.

Men’s basketball – Manhattan named Steve Masiello, who spent the last six years as an assistant at Louisville

Field hockey – Miami (Ohio) hired former Virginia associate head coach Iñako Puzo as its new head field hockey coach. Puzo replaces Jill Reeve, who accepted a position as the head coach at Brown.

Men’s and women’s ice hockey – Rensselaer extended head men’s coach Seth Appert’s contract through the 2017-18 season.

Homer Smith, a football coach known for his offenses at UCLA, Alabama and Arizona, and who was the coach at Army in the years near the end of the Vietnam War, died of cancer April 10 at his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He was 79. Smith played at Princeton and once ran for 273 yards against Harvard, a university record that stood until 1992. He served in the Army in the mid-1950s, then enrolled at Stanford Business School, where he also coached freshman football. He coached running backs at Air Force and was the head coach at Pacific and Davidson before becoming the backfield coach at UCLA, where he would serve three different stints as an assistant. He was well known for tutoring quarterback such as Steve Bono, Tommy Maddox, Jay Schroeder and Rick Neuheisel. He took the head coaching job at Army in 1974, one year after the Cadets had gone winless and lost to Navy, 51-0. Smith’s 1974 team won three games and his 1977 squad won seven, including wins over Navy and Air Force. He retired in 1997.

April 19, 2011

Women’s basketball – Lincoln (Pennsylvania) hired Jessica Kern. In 2010-11, she served as an assistant at Milwaukee. She also assisted at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and in the professional ranks.

April 20, 2011

Husson hired Jennifer Johnstone as head field hockey coach. Johnstone replaces Katie McCabe, who stepped down after coaching the Eagles to two of the most successful years in the program’s history. Johnstone is a former All-American field hockey player at Maine. Most recently, she served as the head field hockey coach at Frostburg State and before that at Kenyon. She also has been an assistant at Cornell and Brown.

Women’s basketball – Lester Harbin has been appointed at Salem International. Harbin had been an assistant with the men’s team at Fredonia State.

Development – Longwood hired Scott Bacon as director of development for intercollegiate athletics. He previously served as the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Carolina League (Advanced-A) affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Bacon has served as the voice of the Lancers for Longwood men’s basketball since 2007-08.

April 21, 2011

Atheltics directors – America East Commissioner Patrick Nero was named AD at George Washington to succeed Jack Kvancz, who is retiring from the position after 17 years. Nero has held numerous NCAA leadership roles, including serving on the Division I Leadership Council, Management Council and chairing the Committee on Women’s Athletics.

Men’s basketball – Stony Brook extended head men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell’s contract through the 2015-16 season

April 22, 2011

Mitch Henderson is the new head men’s basketball coach at Princeton. Henderson will replace former Tigers teammate Sydney Johnson. Henderson and Johnson helped Princeton reach the NCAA tournament three times in the late 1990s. This will be Henderson’s first head coaching job. He spent the past 11 seasons as an assistant at Northwestern under former Princeton head coach Bill Carmody.

Men’s and women’s volleyball assistants – Doug English, who served as an assistant at George Washington the past two seasons, has been named assistant women’s volleyball coach at Delaware.

Information for submissions:

Send transactions – including hiring announcements, contract extensions, retirements, milestones and deaths – to awills@ecac.org.