Several media outlets are reporting that Chattanooga is expected to hire VMI basketball coach Dan Earl, with an announcement coming later this week.
Earl, the 2021 SoCon Coach of the Year, led the Keydets to back-to-back winning seasons in 2021 and 2022, an accomplishment at a school that hasn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 1977.
Chattanooga is coming off a 27-8 season in 2021-2022 that ended with a 54-53 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Illinois.
Earl, 73-139 in seven seasons at VMI, would replace Lamont Paris, who left UTC earlier this month to take the head job at South Carolina.
Paris had an 87-72 record in five seasons at Chattanooga, including winning the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles this past season.
VMI and Chattanooga split their SoCon matchups in 2022, Chattanooga winning 78-74 in Lexington on Jan. 22, VMI winning 80-75 down in Chattanooga on Feb. 19.
Story by Chris Graham