Shyatt Announces Staff for 1998-99

May 1, 1998

Clemson, SC –

Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt announced his coaching staff for the 1998-99 season on Thursday. It includes four coaches who served with him last season at Wyoming, plus former Virginia assistant coach Anthony Solomon.

Scott Duncan, Darren Tillis, Matthew Driscoll and Bruce Martin have made the journey across the country from Wyoming and were instrumental in the Cowboys 19-9 season and berth in the NIT. It was the best record for a Wyoming team since 1986-87, its first postseason appearance since 1990-91.

Solomon was an assistant under Jeff Jones with Virginia from June of 1994 until the end of this past season.

Duncan and Tillis will handle the off-campus recruiting duties on Shyatt’s first Clemson staff. Driscoll and Solomon will serve in various coaching, administrative and on-campus recruiting capacities. Martin will be a graduate assistant, finishing the course work towards a master’s degree he began last year at Wyoming.

“This is an outstanding staff that enjoys working together,” said Shyatt. “This will be a team effort with everyone pulling their share of the wagon. We are all excited to be at Clemson University.”

Duncan is a 1978 graduate of the College of Wooster, the same school that produced Shyatt. The 41-year-old worked with Shyatt at New Mexico, and Cleveland State prior to their season together at Wyoming. Duncan came to Wyoming after two years at Washington State. Altogether, this will be Duncan’s 19th season as a Division I head coach.

Tillis was recruited to Cleveland State by Shyatt in the late 1970s. As a senior, he was named an honorable mention All-American when he averaged 17.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. He is still second in career rebounds at the school.

Tillis played professionally with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State State Warrior before playing professionally in Italy and Spain until 1990-91. He began his college coaching career in Sweden and also served as John Shumate’s assistant for two years at SMU.

Driscoll was the head coach for four years at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh, PA prior to joining Shyatt at Wyoming. He was instrumental in the program’s rise from non-scholarship NAIA level to NCAA Division III. LaRoche was 15-10 in his last season as head coach.

Solomon was an assistant coach at Virginia for four years under Jeff Jones. He was an assistant on the Cavaliers’ 1996 team that tied for the ACC regular season championship, and he coached on three Virginia NCAA Tournament teams altogether. He was an assistant coach at Richmond in 1993-94 and at Manhattan College for the 1992-93 season. Prior to that he was an assistant coach at Bowling Green State in Ohio for three seasons. Solomon is a 1987 graduate of the University of Virginia where he played for coach Terry Holland.

Martin returns to his alma mater to work with Shyatt, who was an assistant coach with the Tigers during his senior year, 1994-95. During his career, Clemson played in three NITs. He is fourth in Clemson history in career three-point goals with 130. Twice in his career he was the recipient of the team academic award.