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It always figured to be a short tenure for Scott Cross at TCU, and that has officially come true. Cross, formerly the head coach at UT-Arlington, has been hired as the new head coach at Troy.
BREAKING: Sources say Scott Cross will be the next head coach for Troy Men's Basketball. Cross spent time as Texas-Arlington's head coach and most recently was an assistant at TCU. #TroyTough #OneTROY
— Justin McNelley (@Justin_WSFA) March 26, 2019
He will still be on the bench tonight with TCU, as the Frogs take on Creighton in round three of the NIT.
Cross joined TCU’s staff in April of 2018 after being fired from his post at UTA. His firing was widely criticized as being a ridiculous move, after Cross racked up 72 wins in his final three seasons with the Mavericks. He had an overall record of 225-161 in his 12 seasons at UTA, receiving two coach of the year awards in the process.
Cross was also an assistant coach for eight seasons at UTA, and played for the Mavericks during his collegiate career. UTA had just gone 21-13 and lost in the Sun Belt tournament final. This season the Mavericks went 17-16, once again losing in the Sun Belt final.
It’s not often that a guy gets fired and winds up in a better spot, but that’s arguably what happened with Cross when he joined TCU’s staff. By moving his office 20 minutes West, Cross got to keep his family in the metroplex, offering some stability in what is normally a significant period of transition for this industry.
Now Cross will have a chance to coach against UTA, as Troy are Sun Belt bunkmates with the Mavericks.
Troy fired head coach Phil Cunningham on March 11th, after a 12-18 record sealed their second-consecutive losing season. The Trojans reached the NCAA Tournament in the 2016-17 season, but were bumped in the first round by Duke.