Frank Haith Position: Head Coach Experience: Fifth Season Alma Mater: Elon, 1988

Frank Haith enters his fifth year at the helm of the University of Miami men's basketball program in 2008-09.

Since taking over the program on April 12, 2004 -- in what then-Athletic Director Paul Dee referred to as "an important event in the evolution and history of Hurricane basketball" -- Haith has met the challenge and surpassed expectations in bringing the Miami program back into the national spotlight.

Despite predictions that the Hurricanes would finish in the basement of the nation's top-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference in 2007-08 after an injury-laden 2006-07 season, Haith led the Miami men's basketball program to one of its most successful campaigns in school history, culminating in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

With that NCAA Tournament apperance in 2008, Haith became the first coach in Miami history to take UM to the postseason in three of his first four seasons at the helm.

The team ran off 12-straight victories to open the season, including winning the inaugural Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic and knocked off Mississippi State on the road. The Hurricanes went on to win eight of their last 12 games, highlighted by an upset of No. 4 Duke at a packed BankUnited Center and a victory over St. Mary's (Calif.) in the NCAA Tournament, en route to Miami's 10th 20-win season. The Hurricanes' 23 wins tied for second-most in school history and were the most by a Miami squad since a school-record 24 wins in 2002, while their 14 home wins was a program best.

Haith and his Hurricanes orchestrated a 10-game turnaround -- among the best in the nation, as Miami moved into the nation's Top 25 for the first time since 2002, reaching as high at No. 19 during the season.

The Hurricanes finished a program-best fifth in the ACC after winning a school-record eight ACC games, and produced Miami's first First Team All-ACC selection in sharpshooter Jack McClinton.

During 2008, Haith was recognized by collegeinsider.com and the Prosser family as a finalist for the inaugural Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which will be presented annually to the Division I head coach who best represents the high standards of the coaching profession and wins with integrity.

"People ask me what I'll remember most about this season," said Haith. "Of course the Duke win was special, but I know that I will always remember that first NCAA Tournament win, and having the opportunity to get all of the guys on the floor. No one can ever take that away from them."

After leading the Hurricanes to one of the most successful campaigns in Miami's 59 years fielding a men's basketball program, Haith signed a new contract in April, keeping him in Coral Gables through 2012-13.

INTO THE ACC
Haith's numerous accomplishments at the helm of the Hurricane program include ushering Miami into the tradition-rich Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, back-to-back postseason appearances in 2005 and 2006, an NCAA Tournament berth in 2008, 11 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, recording the school's first National Invitation Tournament win since 1963, earning the first NIT road win in school history and advancing past the openinground of the NCAA Tournament in2008 for the first time since 2000.

Quickly establishing himself as one of the league's top coaches, Haith is also one of only four current ACC coaches to record 69 or more victories in their first four seasons at their respective ACC school.

Haith faced the daunting task of leading Miami into the ACC during his inaugural 2004-05 season, after taking over a UM program coming off back-to-back losing seasons, including the 2003-04 campaign in which the Hurricanes failed to qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament.

Picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason ACC media poll, Haith shocked critics while leading the Hurricanes to a 16-13 overall record, seven league victories, three wins over ranked opponents and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. Among those three wins over ranked oponents was a thrilling 72-65 win over Florida on its homecourt -- the first win for the Hurricanes in Gainesville in 41 years.

That year, he was honored as the National Association of Basketball Coaches District Coach of the Year, the first coach in UM history to win theaward, and was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award.

In 2005-06, Haith built on the success of his first season as Miami posted an overall record of 18-16, marking the most victories for a UM team since the 2001-02 season, while also winning seven ACC games.

Miami also saw several program firsts under Haith during the 2005-06 campaign. In one of the more thrilling games of the year, Haith and the Hurricanes, coming off an upset over 12th-ranked Maryland, knocked off 20th-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill at the historic Dean Smith Center for the first time in school history.

Miami would later earn the program's first ACC Tournament victory with a win over Clemson before advancing to the postseason for the second-consecutive year with a berth into the 2006 NIT.

In the NIT, Haith guided Miami to wins over Oklahoma State and Creighton, marking just the second time in school history that a Hurricane team recorded consecutive postseason wins.

With the Hurricanes NIT appearance in 2006, Haith became just the second coach in Miami history to take UM to the postseason in his first two seasons.

In 2006-07, Haith and the Hurricanes defeated four ranked teams, marking just the second time in school history a UM team has downed four ranked opponents. It was even more impressive given that the Hurricanes fought through an injury-laden season in which eight players missed a total of 72 games.

Despite all of the success Haith's teams have seen on the court at Miami, what could be considered his greatest asset to the program is his emphasis for achievement off the court and in the classroom. In his first three years, every player -- 10 total -- who exhausted eligibility earned a degree from UM.

SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS
Success, however, is something that has followed Haith everywhere he has coached. In his 15 seasons as an assistant at the collegiate level, he was a part of programs that won one NIT Championship, advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen three times, reached one Elite Eight and one Final Four.

Haith has recruited six McDonald's All-Americans including Rodney Rodgers (1990) to Wake Forest, Jerald Brown (1995) to Texas A&M and Brad Buckman (2002), LaMarcus Aldridge (2004), Daniel Gibson (2004) and Michael Williams (2004) to Texas.

Intent on preparing players for the next level, Haith has had more than a dozen former players go on to play or be drafted in the NBA, including Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers), Gibson (Cleveland Cavaliers), Josh Howard (Dallas Mavericks), T.J. Ford (Indiana Pacers) and former Hurricanes Robert Hite (Miami Heat) and Guillermo Diaz (Los Angeles Clippers).

Prior to taking over at Miami, Haith spent three seasons at the University of Texas under head coach Rick Barnes, where he was promoted to Associate Head Coach in April 2003. In his three seasons in Austin, Haith helped guide Texas to its winningest three-year period in school history.

During his tenure with the Longhorns, they recorded a 73-27 (.730) record while advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and 2004 and the Final Four
in 2003. The 2002-03 season marked UT's first appearance in the Final Four since 1947.

Texas was one of only five schools to reach the Sweet Sixteen from 2002-04, joining Connecticut, Duke, Kansas and Pittsburgh. Prior to Haith joining the Texas staff, the Longhorns had never made consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances.

Haith, who was named Rivals.com Recruiter of the Year in 2004, was responsible for putting together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2004, including commitments from McDonald's All-Americans Aldridge, Gibson and Williams.

While at Wake Forest, Haith was instrumental in helping lead the Demon Deacons to four consecutive postseason tournament appearances, including an NCAA Tournament berth in 2000-01. He also helped Wake Forest secure one of the nation's Top 10 recruiting classes during the 1999-2000 campaign.

The Deacons registered a 74-53 (.583) mark during Haith's four seasons in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest advanced to the postseason NIT's second round in both 1997-98 and 1998-99, before its youthful squad in 1999-2000 posted a 22-14 mark en route to capturing the postseason NIT championship.

Prior to joining the staff at Wake Forest, Haith served one year as the associate head coach at Texas A&M (1996-97). He spent one season (1995-96) as an assistant coach at Penn State, helping the Nittany Lions to a 21-7 record. Penn State was ranked as high as No. 9 in the national polls before placing second in the Big Ten Conference regular-season standings and earning the school's first NCAA Tournament bid in 31 years.

Haith worked three years (1992-93 to 1994-95) as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, and helped the Aggies secure back-to-back recruiting classes that were ranked in the Top 30 in the country during his final two seasons in College Station. In 1993-94, Texas A&M posted a 19-11 mark, finished second in the Southwest Conference regular-season standings and reached postseason play (NIT first round) for the first time in seven years.
He started his full-time coaching career by serving two years as an assistant at UNC Wilmington (1990-91 to 1991-92). He also worked as a graduate assistant coach at Wake Forest for one season (1989-90) during Dave Odom's first year in Winston-Salem.

FROM THE BEGINNING
Haith graduated from Elon College in North Carolina in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. A Dean's List student, he served as a student assistant coach for two years. Following graduation, Haith worked as a part-time member of the Elon coaching staff while teaching in the public schools at nearby Western Middle School. During his three-year association with the Elon coaching staff, the Fighting Christians (now called the Phoenix) enjoyed two 20-win seasons.

Born on November 3, 1965, Haith is a native of Queens, N.Y., but grew up and went to high school at Western Alamance in Burlington, N.C. He and his wife, Pam, have one son, Corey, and one daughter, Brianna.

Year-by-Year Record

Coaching Experience
2004-Present . . . . . . Head Coach, University of Miami
2003-04 . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Head Coach, University of Texas
2001-03 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, University of Texas
1997-01 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, Wake Forest
1996-97 . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Head Coach, Texas A&M
1995-96 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, Penn State
1992-95 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, Texas A&M
1990-92 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, UNC-Wilmington
1989-90 . . . . . . . . . . . Grad. Assistant Coach, Wake Forest
1988-89 . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Coach, Elon College
1985-88 . . . . . . . . . . . Student Assistant, Elon College

Education
1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bachelors' Degree in Physical Education, Elon College

Haith Accolades
• 2008 Skip Prosser Man of the YearAward Finalist
• 2008 ACC Coach of the Year Runner-Up
• 2008 Alamance County (N.C.)Distinguished Service in Sports Award
• 2005 National Association of Basketball Coaches District 6 Coach of the Year
• First Coach in Miami history to be honored as the District Coach of the Year
• 2005 Naismith National Coach of the Year Award Finalist
• The first coach in Miami history totake three of his first four teams intothe postseason
• Second most wins in a season by aMiami head coach (23) in 2008
• School-record 14 home wins in 2008
• Coached Miami to 11 wins overranked opponents in four seasons
• In his first year at the helm, led Miamito a 72-65 win over Florida -- UM's firstwin in Gainesville in 41 years
• Led Miami to its first win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2006
• In 2008, led the Hurricanes to theNCAA Tournament for the first timesince 2002 and into the second round
for the first time since 2000
• Haith's Hurricanes have placed moreplayers (6) on the ACC All-AcademicTeam than any other school, while
Jack McClinton was the only FirstTeam All-ACC pick in 2008 alsonamed to the All-Academic Team
• In 2008, led Miami back into theTop 25 for the first time since 2002
• Second most wins by a first year coach in UM history (16)
• Second head coach in UM history to take his team to the postseason in his first two years
• Guided Miami to a 16-13 overall record his first season, the school's first winning season since 2001-02
• His 34 wins ranks second all-time among UM coaches in their first two seasons as head coach
• Guided Miami to back-to-back post season appearances for the first time since 2001-02
• Guided Miami to its first National Invitation Tournament win since 1963
• Guided Miami to the first NIT road win in school history
• Guided Miami to its first ACC Tournament win in 2006
• Graduated all 10 of his seniors in hisfirst three years