Tom Heinsohn already loves Waltah, so imagine how much the Boston Celtics legend would love it if Walter McCarty were coaching at his alma mater.
Walter McCarty, an assistant on Celtics head coach Brad Stevens’ staff, “would definitely have interest” in Holy Cross’ men’s basketball coaching vacancy, McCarty told Bill Doyle of The Worcester Telegram.
“I would love it, but I don’t want to take away from what I do here,” McCarty told Doyle before Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “I don’t want it to look like I’m chasing after a job, because I’m not. But if they had interest in me, I would definitely have interest in them.”
While McCarty made it clear he is not openly campaigning for the job, he has pursued head coaching jobs in the past. He spoke with Boston College and UMass-Lowell during their recent coaching searches, although he was not formally interviewed, and interviewed with Fairleigh Dickinson. Before joining the Celtics he served as an assistant at Louisville under Rick Pitino, for whom he played on Kentucky and with the Celtics.
Holy Cross athletic director Nathan Pine has said he will conduct a nationwide search for a replacement for Milan Brown, who was fired March 6 after leading the Crusaders to a 14-16 record this season.
Holy Cross was once a national power, claiming an NCAA championship in 1947 and an NIT crown in 1954. The program produced Celtics greats Heinsohn and Bob Cousy, as well as Joe Mullaney, who helped lead the Crusaders to back-to-back Final Fours as a player in 1947 and 1948 before going on to a long coaching career that spanned college, the NBA and ABA.
McCarty is the second Celtics assistant this week to be tied to a college coaching vacancy. Yahoo Sports reported Monday that Jay Larranaga is on the radar at George Mason, where Jay’s father, Jim Larranaga, led the program to the 2006 Final four.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Olivia_Celtics
