Samford tabs Padgett new head coach

Jun 6, 2014 - 10:37 PM Birmingham, AL (SportsNetwork.com) - Samford dismissed head men's basketball coach Bennie Seltzer Friday, with assistant Scott Padgett promoted to take over the school's struggling program.

Seltzer went just 24-41 in two seasons with the Bulldogs, including a 13-20 mark in 2013-14. Samford finished eighth in the 11-member Southern Conference with a 6-10 league record.

Padgett, who helped Kentucky to the 1998 national championship as a player and spent eight seasons in the NBA with four different teams, had been on Seltzer's staff since April of 2012.

The 38-year-old also served as an assistant at Kentucky during the 2009-10 season before a two-year stint at Manhattan under former Wildcats teammate Steve Masiello.

"I'm very excited to have the opportunity to be the head coach at Samford University and to coach these outstanding young men," said Padgett. "This program is going to be all about our players; former, current and future. It's going to be about promoting the mission of this great university and helping these young men in their academic, athletic and spiritual growth."

A 6-foot-9 forward, Padgett scored 1,252 points during his tenure at Kentucky and was named to the All-Final Four team at the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Following graduation, the Louisville native was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 28th overall pick of the 1999 NBA Draft.

Padgett averaged 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds over 448 career NBA games with Utah, Houston, the New Jersey Nets and Memphis.