Central searching for someone to fill Dickenman’s shoes

When Fairleigh Dickinson plays Central Connecticut at Detrick Gymnasium Saturday, it will mark the end of a basketball era. Howie Dickenman, head coach at Central the past 20 seasons, and former top assistant at UConn has announced that he will retire after the game.

After all the memories of a great career are shared and Dickenman is honored in a postgame ceremony, Central will intensify the process of finding a successor. Central athletic director Paul Schlickmann has said little about the process to this point but the focus will obviously be on finding a coach who can put the Blue Devils back in the winning column. Central has not had a winning season since 2010-11.

Schlickmann, in his fourth year at Central, likely has a short list of candidates somewhere on his computer or in a desk drawer. It may takes some time to reach out to coaches or assistant coaches who have not concluded their seasons yet.

It’s always fun to speculate in these situations. In New Britain, the formula for success has been to keep things in the family. With that in mind, we offer up a list of potential candidates with ties to Central or Dickenman – although Schlickmann and any search committee could go in another direction.

Again, this is speculation. But here are some names, in no particular order, to consider:

Donyell Marshall – The former UConn All-American and 15-year NBA veteran was one of Dickenman’s biggest recruiting catches with the Huskies. Since entering the coaching profession on the staff of Karl Hobbs at George Washington, Marshall has made a steady climb up the ladder. He is in his first season at Buffalo after two successful seasons at Rider. The Broncs appeared in the College Basketball Invitational. He also was an assistant with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League. Marshall is eager to land a head coaching spot.

Scott Burrell – The Hamden native and former UConn great is in his first season as head coach at Southern Connecticut, a Division II program. The Owls have clinched the top seed and a first-round by in the Northeast-10 and will open play Sunday. Burrell has led Southern to a 22-6 overall record and were 17-3 in the NE-10. The all-around athlete starred in baseball, basketball and football. He was drafted by Charlotte in the NBA and went on to win a championship with the Chicago Bulls. Burrell remains the only athlete in pro sports history to be drafted in the first round of two sports (MLB and NBA). He was hired at Southern after eight seasons at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats won 143 games and made four postseason appearances in that time.

Patrick Sellers – Currently an assistant coach at DePaul under former UConn assistant Dave Leitao, Sellers played at Central, was a team captain, and graduated in 1991. He was named East Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1991. He led Central in rebounding twice and finished with 581 career rebounds. Sellers began his coaching career at St. Thomas Aquinas in New Britain. He moved to DePaul after two seasons as an assistant at Creighton. Prior to that he was an assistant at Central (1999-03), UMas (2003-04), UConn (2004-10) and Hofstra (2011-13). Sellers has a solid recruiting background from UConn, where he helped land Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier. He is the brother of former UConn standout Rod Sellers.

Steve Curran – The former Central assistant coach is now an assistant at St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies are enjoying a 19-7 season and are one game out of first in the highly competitive Atlantic 10 Conference with an 11-4 record. The Bonnies are on the NCAA bubble. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently ranks St. Bonaventure as one of the first four teams out of the bracket, along with Gonzaga, Oregon State and St. Bonaventure. In his first five seasons at St. Bonaventure, under Mark Schmidt, the Bonnies averaged 18 wins per year. He moved to the St. Bonaventure staff after assisting under Dickenman from 2005-10. He has also been an assistant at Siena, Robert Morris and New Hampshire.

Lamar Barrett – Barrett is in his third season as an assistant at Old Dominion. The Monarchs are currently 16-12 with a 9-6 record in Conference USA. Barrett was an assistant at Central from 2003-05 and an assistant at the University of New Haven from 2005-06. At Old Dominion, he has been part of a turnaround with a program that won five games in 2012-13. The Monarchs posted 45 wins in the two seasons prior to this year, including a 27-8 record in 2014-15. That was good for second place in Conference USA and the Monarchs, under head coach Jeff Jones, advanced to the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden. Barrett spent three years as an assistant on Jones’ staff at American prior to moving to Old Dominion.