Former Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher joins UNCC 49ers’ staff

Former Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher is the second assistant coach to join new Charlotte 49ers coach Mark Price’s staff, the Observer has learned.

Fancher was in Charlotte on Friday and accepted the job during a visit to campus.

Fancher joins Oklahoma State assistant Chris Ferguson, who had already agreed to join Price.

Fancher coached the Mountaineers from 2000-2009 and had a record of 137-136, leading the Mountaineers to three Southern Conference Northern Division championships. Fancher was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2002-03, and the Mountaineers won a school-record 25 games in 2006-07.

After resigning in 2009, Fancher went to Tennessee to be the Volunteers’ director of basketball operations, before rejoining Buzz Peterson (for whom he was an assistant at Appalachian for four seasons) at UNC Wilmington in 2013, before the staff was fired after two seasons.

Ferguson, a native of Hendersonville, has been at Oklahoma State since 2007 and would likely serve as Charlotte’s recruiting coordinator. Before his stint with the Cowboys, Ferguson was an assistant at East Carolina and Tennessee. Before that, he worked at UNC Asheville and Appalachian State. His first coaching job was as an assistant at Morganton Freedom High.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Former Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher joins UNCC 49ers’ staff."