Staff set, CMU basketball looks for new direction
New Central Michigan basketball coach Tony Barbee has already made a big splash with the program after taking over earlier this spring.
With an official announcement Monday morning, his coaching staff is now set. He will bring in three coaches from all different parts of the country. They include Shane Heirman (Associate head coach), Marlon Williamson (Assistant coach) and Chris McMillian (Assistant coach).
With the combined experience and leadership in this group the Chippewas are looking to take the program in a new direction, both on the floor with style of play and off the court with recruiting strategy.
Heirman brings a strong track record to Mount Pleasant and should be Barbee's right hand man. He spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach at DePaul, helping lead the program to it's most victories and first postseason appearance since the early 2000's. Prior to that he spent three seasons at Indiana High School Prep powerhouse La Lumiere. The Chicagoland native played his college basketball at Tulsa from 2008-11.
Marlon 'Smoke' Williamson brings a ton of connections to the program, including many years as the head figure of "The Family", a well known AAU program based in Detroit. Many of the players he coached at that level went on to big time programs, including some that went on to play for John Calipari at Memphis and Kentucky where Barbee was a former assistant. He has coaching experience at UMASS, Pittsburgh and most recently at Long Island University. Williamson is expected to help change the recruiting scene right away with the Chippewas.
McMillian has spent the past two seasons at Idaho State, helping lead the team to its first Big Sky Tournament victory since 2009. Prior to that he spent two years as the Director of Basketball Operations at Hawaii and as assistant coach at the College of Southern Idaho. The Brea, California native played college basketball at Wyoming and was a four-year starter leading the team to two Mountain West Conference championships and an NCAA Tournament berth.
The Chippewas have needed a big change for some time now, and this coaching staff has a chance to start with a clean slate and build the way they want to. There have already been multiple commitments since Barbee took over as head coach, and this staff should only continue to grow the program.