Ducks will unveil new head coach
Published on June 11, 2003 under United States Basketball League (USBL)
Brevard Blue Ducks News Release
MELBOURNE -- The Brevard Blue Ducks will have a new head coach when they play the Westchester Wildfire today at the Clemente Center.
Ricky Benitez is taking over for Derek Howard, who missed last Sunday's game for personal reasons and will not return as the team's coach.
Howard flew back to his home in suburban Kansas City to attend to family matters, and Westchester drilled Brevard 106-86 in his absence.
The loss dropped the defending Eastern Division champions to 6-17, second-worst in the United States Basketball League.
"It's been a tough year for Derek," Blue Ducks owner Mike Richman said. "He was having a hard time handling both (basketball and personal issues)."
Benitez, who makes his Brevard coaching debut at 7 tonight, has only six games to get the Blue Ducks ready for the postseason tournament at the end of the month.
There are home games against the top two teams in the East (Pennsylvania and Westchester) and four games on the road where the Blue Ducks are 1-9.
Suffice it to say, Benitez, 38, has his work cut out for him.
He will have a new coaching staff, and Richman said Benitez probably will bring in more players. One of those could be power forward Darryl Hardy.
Hardy was released earlier this month in a midseason purge that also saw Howard cut point guard Earl "Pep" Tyson and center Simeon Haley; all three started on last year's 21-9 squad.
Richman expects Hardy, who lives in Orlando, to rejoin the team. Hardy, who was a co-captain with Tyson, could not be reached for comment.
"We never give up here," Richman said.
Howard said he gave up his coaching post reluctantly, especially since it is so close to the end of the season. However, he said, his family -- specifically his young daughters -- had to come first.
"It's frustrating for me because we were finally rounding the corner," said Howard, whose team lost close games to Oklahoma and Brooklyn last weekend. "I thought we finally had a group of guys that were going to play hard together."
United States Basketball League Stories from June 11, 2003
- Ducks will unveil new head coach - Brevard Blue Ducks
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