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Seymour and Diener Complete Men's Basketball Staff
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June 21, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Virginia Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dave Leitao announced the completion of his staff on Tuesday, June 21, with the appointments of Steve Seymour as assistant coach and Drew Diener as director of basketball operations. Seymour and Diener join assistant coaches Gene Cross and Rob Lanier on Leitao’s staff.
“I am extremely pleased to have completed our staff with two high quality people,” said Leitao. “We set out to get great chemistry within our office and I think we will more than have that.”
Seymour was an assistant coach at LaSalle last season after spending the three previous seasons on Lanier’s staff at Siena. During his time at Siena, the Saints captured the 2002 MAAC Championship and won recorded the second ever NCAA Tournament win in school history.
From 1991 to 2001, Seymour coached at Drexel, the last two seasons as head coach. In two seasons, the Dragons had a 28-29 record under Seymour, including a 21-15 record in the America East. The previous eight seasons, Seymour was Bill Herrion’s top aide as Drexel posted a 134-47 record. During that time, the Dragons won three consecutive America East championships and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including an upset of Memphis in the first round of the 1995 tournament.
Seymour began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire for three seasons. Two of those seasons, the Hawks played in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
A native of Rockland, Mass., Seymour is a 1981 graduate of Bridgewater State (Mass.) with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
“With Steve, we’ve got a guy with great experience who has proven he can effectively help any program,” said Leitao. “As a former head coach, he will bring a mentality that our kids will definitely benefit from.”
Diener was the graduate assistant operations director for the men’s basketball program at DePaul University last year. Prior to joining the DePaul staff, he was an assistant coach at Northridge Prep in Niles, Ill., for one season.
A native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Diener is a 2003 graduate of Saint Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.Diener was a member of the basketball team at Saint Louis and he ranked sixth on the program’s career three-point field goals made list with 124 when he graduated. He made 40 percent (124-310) of his three-point attempts during his collegiate career. Diener was named the team’s Most Improved Player as a junior. Saint Louis participated in one NCAA Tournament and in the National Invitation Tournament twice while he was a member of the team.
“Drew is a young man who has future success written all over him,” said Leitao. “He did a terrific job for us last year and as he gains experience will prove to be a very good coach.”