Arkansas State names John Brady coach

Mar 19, 2008 - 7:33 PM JONESBORO, Arkansas (Ticker) -- John Brady, fired earlier this season at Louisiana State, was named basketball coach at Arkansas State on Wednesday.

Brady, 53, was officially introduced during a noon news conference at the school. He takes over for Dickey Nutt, who resigned after 13 seasons at Arkansas State. The Indians finished with a 10-20 record, including a 5-13 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.

"This has always been considered a great basketball community and region that will support this basketball program in a big way," Brady said. "Not only is our goal to win championships, but to lead the Sun Belt Conference in attendance because of the great fans this school has."

Two years ago, Brady guided LSU to the Final Four, but he quickly fell out of favor after spending 11 years at the school. He was dismissed on February 7, when the Tigers were 8-13 overall and just 1-6 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU ended the year with a 13-18 overall record and a 6-10 mark in SEC play.

Brady, who also coached at Samford and Alabama, left LSU with a 192-139 record and ranks third on the school's all-time wins list.

While at LSU, Brady guided the Tigers to six postseason berths, two SEC titles and three SEC West crowns.

"He shares our vision of taking the ASU men's basketball program to a nationally competitive level, as he was able to do with the LSU program," Arkansas State chancellor Robert Potts said. "He knows how to recruit competitively and win while playing by the rules."