CONWAY, S.C. - Coastal Carolina's men's basketball program has added veteran coach Dennis Nutt to its staff as an assistant coach, head coach Buzz Peterson announced today. Nutt replaces Ed Conroy, who took over as head coach at The Citadel in April.

"I am extremely grateful to Coach Peterson and Coastal Carolina for the opportunity to be there," Nutt said. "The program has made great strides under Buzz and his staff in the first year and we hope to continue that. I am looking forward to getting there to get going to work, as well as getting my family settled in to the area. It is a very exciting time."

"I am very excited to have Dennis joining our staff at Coastal," Peterson said. "He is a veteran of the coaching ranks and has basketball in his blood, both as a player and a coach. Having been a part of turning around several programs, he has an understanding of what we started here last year and where we are trying to get to. He is a very solid addition to our staff."

Nutt spent six seasons as the head coach at Texas State, where he amassed a 72-96 record with the Bobcats and finished .500 or better in Southland Conference play each of his first five years in leading the squad to the Conference Tournament each time. Prior to that he served as an assistant coach at Arkansas State University for five years, where he helped the Indians to a pair of Sun Belt Conference titles and berth in the NCAA Tournament. Nutt also was an assistant coach at Westark Community College for four years, where they posted a 65-26 mark during his tenure. Following his playing career, he got his start as a graduate assistant coach at Texas A&M during the 1989-90 season.

A 1986 graduate of Texas Christian University, Nutt played from 1981-85 for the Horned Frogs. He was a two-time First-Team All-Southwest Conference selection, including ranking third in the nation in free throw percentage as a senior, and was honored on the All-Time Southwest Conference team. He then continued playing in the Continental Basketball Association in LaCrosse and Sioux Falls before playing for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for two years. After taking one year off to work at Texas A&M, he spent one season playing for Real Madrid in Spain in the European Basketball Association, where played for current NBA coach George Karl.

Sports is a mainstay in Nutt's family. One of his brothers, Dickey, is the current head basketball coach at Arkansas State. Two other brothers are also in coaching, as Houston is the head football coach at Arkansas and has another brother Danny as an assistant with Razorbacks' football program. The groups has been the subject of a Sports Illustrated feature called "You've Got to be Nutts."

Nutt is married to the former Vicki Hughes, also a 1986 graduate of TCU. The couple has twin girls, Macy and Myca, who are 13.