Pourchier Named Reinhardt College's New Head Men's Basketball Coach

August 11, 2007 (PRLEAP.COM) Sports News
Jeff Pourchier has been named the new head men’s basketball coach at Reinhardt College, Athletic Director Bill Popp recently announced. Pourchier replaces T.J. Rosene, who resigned last month to take over as head coach at Southern States Athletic Conference foe Emmanuel College.

“Coach Popp called, and I was extremely excited, really thrilled to be given the opportunity to do something I’ve dreamt about – being a college head coach,” Pourchier said after accepting his first head coaching position with the Eagles. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I was playing college and high school basketball. I thank Reinhardt College for giving me an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Pourchier comes to NAIA Division I Reinhardt from NCAA Division II Valdosta State University, where he spent two years as an assistant coach to Head Coach Mike Helfer. Valdosta State went a combined 37-19 overall in his two seasons there, including a 20-9 mark and NCAA Tournament bid in 2006-07.

Before heading south to VSU, Pourchier served with Helfer for two campaigns as an assistant coach at conference rival Southern Polytechnic State University. In 2004-05, Southern Poly claimed both the SSAC regular season and tournament championships en route to a 32-4 overall record and berth in the NAIA “Sweet 16.” SPSU was ranked No. 1 in the country in early February 2005, a first for any sport in the school’s history. In 2003-04, the Runnin’ Hornets finished 24-10 overall, earning the conference regular season title and advancing to the NAIA national tournament.

“We are very excited to have Jeff take over our men’s basketball program,” Popp said. “He brings high energy and knowledge of the SSAC, as well as the ability to recruit local talent.

“Jeff is a great young talent in the world of college basketball, and we are very happy to showcase him here at Reinhardt College.”

Prior to getting into the coaching profession, Pourchier played for four seasons at LaGrange College, where he accumulated more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds during his career while receiving several individual honors. As a prep, he played at Brookwood High School.

A Lawrenceville, Ga., native, Pourchier obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from LaGrange in 2003 and later earned a Master of Business Administration at Southern Poly in 2005.