Temple gets Liburd to coach two sports

Tennessee Temple University ended a three-month run of replacing its entire slate of head coaches by getting one for two sports.

Kenrick Liburd was hired Tuesday as volleyball and women's basketball coach. A native of London, England, Liburd assisted new Temple men's basketball coach Randy Lee -- hired March 24 -- with both basketball teams at the University of Maine at Machias from 2003 to '05.

Liburd has remained in Machias as head boys' basketball coach at Washington Academy, and he also has been the head coach the past two years for the top AAU girls' program in Maine. He also has worked in volleyball camps and clinics.

"Kenrick's well-rounded coaching experience in addition to his recruiting contacts will help us accomplish what is needed in both sports," Temple athletic director John Secord said in his official announcement.

Secord said in conversation that Liburd was "a fit" in his experience with both sports and with his background and friendship with Lee. The basketball Lady Crusaders had been successful under Melvin Williams, who resigned because of the increased budget restraints, but the volleyball team won only one match under an interim coach last season.

"My family and I are thrilled to become a part of the Tennessee Temple University community," Liburd said in the school release. "I am excited about the challenge of recruiting great players that are committed to their faith, education and sports."

An Achilles' tendon injury ended his playing career at UM-Machias, but he expressed an interest in getting into coaching when Lee arrived as men's basketball coach. He was older than the average player and Lee put him to work, and he helped even more after Lee took over the women's team when that coach was sent to Iraq.

"Kenrick was an assistant on the girls' side a year and a half, and then he got that girls' program started in AAU," Lee said Tuesday. "He's done a lot of great things with the people there, but he was ready to move back up to the college level.

"Kenrick was a hungry worker as an assistant, and he is a student of the game," Lee added. "And he does a great job having a rapport with his student-athletes. He also has an eye not only for talent but for fitting the talent to his schemes."

Both of their UM-Machias basketball teams were successful even though it was an NAIA Division II school with no athletic scholarships, so Lee said Liburd knows how to work with limited resources.

"And at Machias, Maine, you're 45 minutes from a Walmart or a movie theater, so the beautiful city of Chattanooga was definitely an attraction for him," Lee added. "I'm happy to be working with him again."