Tripp Pendergast has been named Director of Men’s Basketball Operations at High Point University, head coach Scott Cherry announced on Thursday. Pendergast comes to High Point after a year as assistant coach of men’s basketball at Pfeiffer University.
“Tripp will be a tremendous asset to the High Point University basketball staff,” said Cherry. “The addition of his position will allow everyone on the staff to focus on their particular roles, and Tripp is a great person to come in and help with our organization and team management.”
The 2009-10 season will be the first at High Point University for Cherry and assistant coaches Mike Balado, Kevin Easley and Wes Miller. Pendergast previously worked with Easley at UNC Greensboro.
Pendergast spent the last year as assistant coach at Pfeiffer University, where he assisted in all aspects of the Falcons’ Div. II men’s basketball program. Pendergast’s primary focus at Pfeiffer was individual instruction, including on-floor teaching and video instruction, to stimulate individual improvement. He had extensive video responsibilities both for reviewing Pfeiffer’s previous games and scouting upcoming opponents, as well as monitoring the team members’ academic progress.
Prior to Pfeiffer, Pendergast worked for two years as Director of Basketball Operations at UNC Greensboro under head coach Mike Dement. His experience at UNC Greensboro included all of the team’s organizational and travel arrangements, video management and coordination of UNCG’s boys’ basketball camps.
Originally from Atlanta, Pendergast began working in college athletics while an undergraduate at Wake Forest University. He worked with the men’s basketball team and was a student worker in Wake Forest’s Sports Media Relations Office. Pendergast graduated from Wake Forest in 2005 and worked the next year as a full-time intern in the Media Relations Office.
Pendergast has extensive experience working basketball camps. In addition to working camps at Pfeiffer and UNC Greensboro, he has worked camps at Campbell University, Georgia Tech and this summer had a large role in the High Point University camps.
In their first season under Cherry, the Panthers look to improve on their 9-21 (4-14 Big South) record from a year ago. The team returns four starters, including Nick Barbour, who led the team with 14.2 points per game as a freshman last season.
High Point University is an NCAA Div. I institution that competes in the Big South Conference. HPU is a liberal arts institution with 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 50 countries and more than 40 states at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem, N.C. It is ranked by US News and World Report No. 5 among comprehensive universities in the South and No. 1 in its category among up-and-coming schools. For more information about High Point University sports, check www.highpointpanthers.com.
Jon Litchfield
Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Information
336-841-4605