Malcolm Farmer Joins Doherty's Staff as FAU's Director of Basketball Operations

Florida Atlantic University men's basketball head coach Matt Doherty has announced the hiring of Malcolm Farmer, who joins the staff as the Director of Basketball Operations.

He spent the past two seasons on the staff at Western Illinois University after four years of experience at Notre Dame.

"We are fortunate to have Malcolm join our program at FAU," said Doherty. "Malcolm brings a wealth of experience that will benefit our basketball program for years to come.  Having worked with Malcolm at Notre Dame, I know first-hand that he is a hard worker, highly intelligent and a loyal person of high character. We are thrilled he is here!"

Last year, Farmer was a graduate assistant on Derek Thomas' staff. His responsibilities included recruiting, individual workouts, scouting, and assisting with scheduling. His efforts helped in leading the Leathernecks to their best conference finish in six years. The year before, Farmer was the senior manager for the program, where his duties included player instruction, scouting, scheduling, on-campus recruiting, and strength and conditioning.

Prior to his tenure at WIU, Farmer spent fours years as a manager at Notre Dame from 1999-2003. His first year with the Fighting Irish coincided with Doherty's year as head coach. During Farmer's time there, Notre Dame made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Sweet-16. The team also advanced to the championship of the NIT in 2000.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of the Florida Atlantic basketball program," said Farmer. "The vision of both the University and Coach Doherty reflect a positive environment that will translate to a successful basketball program.  The people of Boca Raton will see an exciting and entertaining brand of basketball that they will be proud to support.  I have jumped into the job with both feet and am ready
to assist the program and our student-athletes in whatever capacity necessary."
Farmer also spent the summer of 2002 working in the front office of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He worked extensively on the organization's draft efforts as well as assisted with the team's mini-camp and summer training camp.

Farmer received an undergraduate degree in history from Notre Dame where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He is currently working toward a masters degree in sports psychology.

Tony Smith has been named Florida Atlantic University's head strength And conditioning coach, announced Athletics Director Craig Angelos, Thursday.

"Tony will be a great asset to our program because of the intensity, discipline, and leadership he will provide to our student-athletes," said Angelos. "Just in the short time he has been here, I have seen a tremendous improvement in the quality of our strength and conditioning program."

Smith came to Florida Atlantic from the University of Mississippi where He served as the senior strength and conditioning coach, since 2001, and where he worked directly with football and men's basketball.

Prior to Ole Miss, Smith served a stint at the University of Findlay Where he was the director of strength, speed and conditioning for 26 sports and worked directly with football, and both men's and women's basketball.

From 1999-2001 he served as a graduate assistant at Clemson University Where he assisted with 14 intercollegiate athletic teams and worked directly with football. His work at Clemson followed a two-year stop at Gardner-Webb University where he was the director of strength, speed and conditioning.

He has also worked as a defensive line coach at both Gardner-Webb, where he was a student coach from 1997-1998, and at North Greenville College from 1995-97.

Smith served in the military and earned a rank of E-4 and received the Outstanding Achievement Award and Good Conduct Medal.

His professional achievements include working with Ole Miss at the Cotton Bowl as well as the 2002 NCAA men's basketball tournament, the 2000 Gator Bowl and the 1999 Peach Bowl with Clemson, assisting with Gardner-Webb's record NCAA Division II turnaround in 1997 when the team improved from 2-9 to 8-3, and North Greenville College's five victories as an inaugural program.

Smith is certified by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) and is a Specialist in Sports Conditioning (SCC) by International Sports Science Association. He is also a member of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.

McBryde and Storey Named All-Conference

The Atlantic Sun office released the 2005 All-Conference honors on Tuesday. Florida Atlantic University pitcher Mickey Storey and outfielder Mike McBryde earned First Team All-Conference Honors after outstanding seasons.

Storey (Deerfield Beach, FL) led the A-Sun with a 1.98 ERA and finished the regular season with an 8-1 record, seven saves and 68 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .231 batting average. He is the only pitcher in FAU's Division I history to carry an ERA under 2.00 and is ranked 22nd in the nation in the same category. Against top-25 opponents this year, the freshman threw 22 innings and struck out 24.

A sophomore centerfielder, McBryde earned First Team honors after earning All-Freshman honors last year. He finished second in the A-Sun with a .387 batting average, while leading FAU with 89 hits and 32 stolen bases. Entering the tournament, the North Palm Beach, FL native needs seven hits to break the FAU single season record.

FAU's middle infield of Tyler Stevens and ALex Fonseca picked up second team recognition. A junior shortstop, Fonseca hit .319 with three home runs, nine doubles and 29 RBI while stealing 14 bases. In his first season at FAU, Stevens hit. 400 for the year and .435 in conference play as the team's second baseman.

Mike McKenna joined Storey on the All-Freshman team. The first baseman finished second on the team with six home runs and third with 33 RBI in his freshman campaign. In his first ten appearances of the season he held a batting average over .400.

FAU heads into this week's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament as the no. 2 seed. The tournament will be played at Melching Field in DeLand, FL with the championship game scheduled for Saturday.

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Report courtesy of FAU Sports Information Department ? Katrina McCormack, Assistant Athletic Director SID; John McMahon, Assistant SID and Radio Play-by-Play; and Dawn Elston, Assistant SID. For more information about FAU Sports, go to the FAU web site at www.fausports.com