Where Are They Now?

(1986-88, 2 seasons)

Where he came from: Almost everywhere on the East Coast during a nomadic rise through the college basketball assistant ranks. He worked first at his alma mater, Dowling College, in 1973-74, then went to the New York Institute of Technology (1974-75), Iona (1975-77), Davidson (1977-78), St. John???s (1978-79), Maryland (1979-81), Virginia Tech (1981-82), and North Carolina State (1982-86). He was on staff with Jim Valvano for the NCAA championship season in 1983.

Record: Lamar was his first head coaching position.

Lamar days: Abatemarco posted the school???s last 20-win season (20-11 in 1987-88, which was good for third place in the American South, the best finish for a Lamar team since 1984). "Lamar will always be dear to me because it was my first head coaching job," Abatemarco said. "I will always remember my first win, an upset win against TCU."

LU Record: 34-26 (.567).

Where he went: Abatemarco gave up his last coaching stint at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento in December, four games into the season, citing the change in his role as a radio personality. Abatemarco works on the Sacramento Kings broadcasts.

He left Lamar to be the head coach at Drake in 1988-90 had Abatemarco gone in two years. He then was an assistant coach at Colorado (1990-93) and Rutgers (1993-97) before jumping back into the head coach spot at one of the nation???s worst programs, Sacramento State. He improved a program that hadn???t won more than 10 games since 1991 to a 9-18 mark in his third season, 1999-2000, before resigning..

Record: 36-95 (23-29 at Drake and 13-66 at Sacramento State).

Tony Branch

(1988-90, 2 seasons)

Where he came from: Lamar. Branch, who played for Louisville???s national championship team in 1980s, had been on staff at Lamar for the two seasons under Abatemarco. Prior to that he had been an assistant coach at Tulsa (1985-86), Purdue University (1982-85) and Manhattan (1981-82) and a student assistant for one season at Louisville.

Record: Lamar was his first head coaching position.

Lamar days: After a 12-16 campaign in 1988-89, Branch followed with a 7-21 season that included a 1-9 run through the American South Conference. Branch was fired in March 1990. "Tony was a class act and everybody loved him," said Doug McCarter, the West Orange-Stark who was a volunteer assistant under Branch. "But he only got two years with a small budget."

LU record: 19-37 (.339)

Where he went: Branch was reassigned within the university after being fired from his basketball position. He became a principal at a school in Louisville, Ky. He stepped back into coaching and this season completed his second year as the boys basketball coach at Seneca High School, a magnet school in Louisville.

Mike Newell

(1990-93, 4 seasons)

Where he came from: Arkansas-Little Rock. After taking over in 1984, Newell built a program that won 113 games in his first five seasons, including an upset of top 10 Notre Dame in the 1986 NCAA Tournament. In six years, his teams made three NCAA appearances and played twice in the NIT, including a final four showing in 1986-87. He left with a string of five straight 20-win seasons.

Newell grew up in Indiana, signed with Louisiana State and finished his college career at Sam Houston State. He was hired by Billy Tubbs in 1982 to join the staff at Oklahoma. Two years later, at the age of 32, he became the UALR coach.

Record: 133-60 in six seasons at UALR.

Lamar days: From the career bio on the UA-Monticello Web site: "Newell???s three seasons at Lamar were marked by on-court success and off-court political struggles with a new administration that soured him on college athletics. ???When I left Lamar, I really had misgivings about college sports,??? says Newell. ???That???s when I decided to go the pro route.??? "

LU record: 42-44 (.488)

Where he went: Eventually, Arkansas-Monticello. After scouting for the Miami Heat, coaching the Shreveport Storm of the CBA for one season and scouting for the Detroit Pistons, Newell coached on the junior college level for four years at Southern University at Shreveport-Bossier. He was a regional scout one season for the Los Angeles Clippers before taking over the Division II Monticello Boll Weevils in May 2001.

Newell took the post, he said at the time, "Because I wanted to get back into college coaching at the NCAA level and because I wanted to be someplace where we have a chance to win a national championship. I think we can do that at UAM."

The program has one 20-win season in the last 11 years, he said, and this year???s 9-18 team featured four starters who can return next year.

He said he fielded a team with four starters returning for next year.

Record: 18-35 in two seasons at Arkansas-Monticello; 67-44 in four seasons at Southern at Shreveport-Bossier.

Grey Giovanine

(1993-99, 6 seasons)

Where he came from: Giovanine had most recently been an assistant coach one season at Wichita State University, where he was the recruiting coordinator. Prior to that, from 1987-92, he was an assistant coach at Rice University. He had been an assistant at Valparaiso (1982-85) and a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Central Missouri State.

Record: Lamar was his first head coaching position.

Lamar days: From his bio on the Augustana College Web site: "In his last year at NCAA Division I Lamar his team finished 17-11 and led the league in scoring and attendance. During his tenure there he guided Lamar to its first ever wins over Baylor, LSU, Ole Miss, Houston, USC and Western Kentucky and produced the schools first two GTE/CoSID Academic All-Americans." (see sidebar).

LU record: 80-85 (.485)

Where he went: Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.

Record: 64-36 in four seasons, including a 20-5 campaign this past season for the Division III school.

Mike Deane

(1999-2003, 4 seasons)

Where he came from: After leading Siena to three NIT appearances and an NCAA upset of Stanford in eight seasons, Deane went to Marquette in 1994 and led the Golden Eagles to four straight 20-win seasons and postseason appearances. But the fourth tourney appearance was an NIT berth in a 20-11 season. That was followed by a 14-15 campaign in 1998-99, after which Deane was fired.

Record: 266-132.

Lamar days: After Deane was hired by Lamar in 1999, he was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "I know absolutely nothing about the league. My only expectations are from what I hear from my assistants. Basically, I know that Texas-San Antonio, Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe), McNeese State and one of those guys that fought in the Alamo ??? Stephen F. Austin or Sam Houston ??? are the teams to beat."

In his first season, he took Lamar to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1983, prompting an editiorial in The Beaumont Enterprise that stated, "Deane???s hiring by Athletic Director Dean Billick is also turning into one of the university???s best personnel moves in years."

LU record: 52-62 (.456)

Where he went: When Deane was relieved of his basketball duties in March, he was to be reassigned within the university. That assignment has not been determined yet.