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Players Mentioned
Brian Earl '99 to Remain as Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
April 28, 2011 | Men's Basketball
TigerBlog On Mitch Henderson And Brian Earl
PRINCETON -- After being paired for three seasons as teammates, Brian Earl '99 and new head men's basketball coach Mitch Henderson '98 will be together again on the sidelines.
Earl served as an assistant coach under another former teammate of both men, Sydney Johnson '97, for four seasons in a move that began his collegiate coaching career. Earl and Johnson helped guide the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in 2011 after winning the program's 26th Ivy League title, both Ivy-record totals.
"I'm pleased that Brian has chosen to remain on staff at Princeton so that we can continue to build on the success he and Sydney helped to achieve over the last few seasons," Henderson said. "It is important to have that continuity between what the team has already achieved under the previous staff and what we aim to do in the seasons to come."
Earl and Henderson won Ivy League titles in all three years they were teammates at Princeton, adding victories in the NCAA Tournament over UCLA in 1996 and UNLV in 1998 along with a three-point near-miss against California in 1997. In Henderson's senior year and Earl's junior season of 1997-98, the Tigers were ranked as high as seventh in the nation and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm looking forward to continuing the long tradition of Princeton basketball success that Mitch and I achieved as players and that Sydney and I were able to reach again as a staff," Earl said. "Princeton is a special place for me, so it means a lot to be able to continue to work with Mitch and pursue the standard of success that we were able to realize both when I played here and again last season."
Patrick Saunders, a junior co-captain this season, applauded Earl staying on staff.
"Having Coach Earl back is a relief to everyone," Saunders said. "Knowing that Coach Earl is going to be with us gives us assurance that we will be fine. The team loves Coach Earl and everyone is so happy to hear that he is staying."