Southeast Missouri State men's basketball promotes Lagroone to assistant coach

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray filled the vacancy on his staff, announcing the promotion of Nick Lagroone to assistant coach Wednesday.

Lagroone, formerly the Redhawks' director of basketball operations, will take over the spot vacated by Benjy Taylor, who left last month to move closer to his family in Hawaii.

Last season, Lagroone overlooked the day-to-day operations of the program. Along with assisting with scheduling practices, his duties also included skill workouts, on-campus recruiting, team travel, camps, academics and video.

"Nick did an outstanding job during his time serving as an assistant while also handling all of the responsibilities in his role as director of basketball operations," Ray said in a release. "This move gives our staff and players some continuity and that is key to us building relationships and having synergy throughout our program. I am excited about what the future holds for Nick and Redhawk basketball in his new position."

Before coming to Southeast, Lagroone was the head coach at Greenforest Christian Academy, leading the Atlanta school to a 27-2 record and to the state championship game in 2014-15, his only season with the team.

Lagroone had previously been a graduate assistant for two years for Ray at Mississippi State.

-- From staff report