NCAA veteran to be head coach of St. John's pro basketball team

While the name remains a mystery, the coaching staff is firmed up — and a veteran of the U.S. college ranks is at the helm as head coach of the National Basketball League of Canada's newest franchise in St. John's.

"My family has lost their minds," Jeff Dunlap told CBC News on Thursday. "They can't wait to get up here and visit. It's gorgeous."

• St. John's city council approves agreement to bring pro basketball to Mile One
• Basketball deal hinges on 1,500 nightly attendance, says St. John's mayor

Dunlap spent the last seven years as an assistant coach with the North Carolina State Wolfpack, where he helped the team to two appearances in the NCAA's coveted Sweet 16 — the latter stage of a tournament featuring 68 of the best college teams in America.

He also spent time with the University of Alabama, University of Western Michigan and University of Georgia.

"I've been a college basketball coach for 30 years," he said. "That's been great. But you're always intrigued at the professional side."

The St. John's team, co-owned by health-food multi-millionaire Irwin Simon, also named British Columbia's Doug Plumb as an assistant coach.

Plumb comes to St. John's from the NBL Canada's defending champion London Lightning, where he served as the team's chief assistant coach and head scout.

Plumb also played in the pro ranks with the International Basketball Federation between 2013 and 2015.

A sweet deal, new coach says

Dunlap was approached three weeks ago and was impressed by the team's ownership.

As soon as he did a Google search for St. John's, he became even more intrigued. Never one to anchor in one city for long, Dunlap was up for a new adventure.

Plus, it was a good fit for his family.

"My son loves to fish," he said. "So look out in the spring when we're up there. He's going to be all over that."

The push is now on to recruit players. There is a draft scheduled for Oct. 22 in Windsor, Ont. with the St. John's franchise having the first pick.

Dunlap hopes to have most of his team in place before the draft, however.

"There's a ton of wannabe professional basketball players out there, and you'd be shocked at how good they are," he said. "It's my job to recruit them now. I've done that my whole life."

Despite not having a great knowledge of the city, Dunlap will try to sell new players on the allure of St. John's. 

"If we can sell them on that, we can assemble a good team."

IceCaps staff find new jobs in basketball

The team also announced its business and operations staff on Thursday, all of whom were previously employed by the American Hockey League's St. John's IceCaps.

Former chief operating officer Glen Stanford will switch to basketball as a senior advisor to the organization.

In the spring, Stanford was part of a group considered frontrunners to own the franchise, but no deal was struck.

Trevor Murphy will handle day-to-day operations. Mark Spencer will handle financial and administrative duties. Colin Fardy will take on game operations and video production.

Melissa Kavanagh, a local event manager, will take the lead on ticket sales, group packages and help with marketing.

Kenny O'Leary, currently with the Newfoundland Chocolate Company, will handle communications, social media and community engagement.

The yet-to-be-named team will tip off against the Island Storm in Charlottetown, P.E.I. on Nov. 18 and will make its home debut at Mile One Centre on Dec. 1 against the Niagara River Lions.