April 13, 2011
BEAUMONT - Head men's basketball coach Pat Knight has announced that former University of Texas standout Kenton Paulino and former Collin College assistant Clif Carroll have been named assistant coaches at Lamar University.
In addition to Paulino and Carroll, Knight will add one more assistant to the staff. Kermit Holmes, who has been on the Lamar coaching staff for the past six seasons, will be retained as the director of basketball operations.
"I want young, hungry guys on the staff," said Knight. "Especially being at a smaller school, it's good to give them an opportunity because they haven't had one yet. It's always good to give those guys a chance."
Paulino comes to Lamar after three seasons as a special assistant at Texas, assisting in all internal operations of the basketball program. The 27-year-old Paulino helped the Longhorns post a 75-30 (.714) record during his tenure, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2010-11 team finished the year with a 28-8 record, the third most single-season wins in UT history. Texas finished the season ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll, the third-highest final AP ranking in school history.
"I really wanted to bring someone from Coach (Rick) Barnes' staff," said Knight about bringing Paulino on board at Lamar. "He was a great player in the Big 12; he can recruit Texas and he is from California, so that opens that area up for us."
Paulino earned four letters at Texas, spending two years as a starter, and helped the Horns advance to four NCAA Tournaments, including the 2003 Final Four. Paulino was a tri-captain as a senior on a team that finished with a school-record 30-7 record, won the Big 12 regular season title and advanced to the "Elite Eight" in the NCAA Tournament.
Paulino, who played in 106 career games at Texas and ranks third in UT history in 3-point field goal percentage at 40.1, spent two seasons playing professionally, the first overseas in Turkey and a second with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.
Paulino earned his bachelor's of arts degree in ethnic studies from Texas in August of 2008. He is married to the former Shelette Williams.
Carroll comes to Lamar after spending three highly successful seasons as an assistant coach at Collin College. During his tenure, the Cougars won 77 games for the best three-year run in program history. In his first season, Collin won 27 games, won the NTJCAC Conference championship and advanced to the Region V semifinals.
"I really wanted a junior college guy since we will definitely look to the junior college ranks for recruits," said Knight. "He knows the junior college system, and he knows this league left and right and what it takes to win in this league."
Prior to working at Collin, Carroll spent two years as an assistant at South Plains College. The 2007-08 Texans went 30-5 and won the 2008 NJCAA national championship.
Carroll coached four NJCAA All-Americas during his five years in the junior college ranks, and helped the two schools compile an overall 135-30 record. He also coached 2011 Southland Conference Player of the Year Gilberto Clavell (Sam Houston State) while at Collin.
Carroll began his coaching career as a student assistant on Bob Knight's staff at Texas Tech. Carroll was an assistant during Tech's run to the Sweet 16 in 2005, and was on the bench when Knight picked up his 800th career victory.
The 29-year-old Carroll graduated from Texas Tech in 2006 with a degree in exercise and sports sciences. Carroll is married to the former Beth Lippert.
LAMAR
