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Gardner-Webb to Hire East Carolina Assistant Tim Craft

The Bulldogs will reach into their past to find their new head coach, in a search that took less than a week.

By Parks Smith
Grant Halverson

Gardner-Webb was shocked last week when Big South Coach of the Year Chris Holtmann decided to step down as the Bulldogs head coach to become an assistant at Butler University. G-WU did not take long to name their replacement for Holtmann.

According to multiple sources, Gardner-Webb will hire East Carolina assistant Tim Craft to take over the team. The swift move comes to a surprise and disappoint to many Bulldogs fans, as they expected one of the current assistants coaches on the staff (Jay McAuley or Mike Netti) to maintain continuity.

Craft is a 2000 graduate of Florida and did spend three years as an assistant at Gardner-Webb from 2004 to 2007. After leaving G-WU, Craft headed to Auburn where he hooked up with Jeff Lebo and has spent the last three years at East Carolina.

Current East Carolina Director of Basketball Operations Kyle Robinson is a 2003 Gardner-Webb grad and is expected to follow Craft back to Boiling Springs.

Gardner-Webb went 21-13 last year and will return a talented squad that will be bolstered by Texas A&M transfer Naji Hibbert.

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