Elon men's basketball announces staff promotions, new hire

In light of former associate head coach Tim Sweeney leaving last month, Elon University men's basketball coach has promoted some assistants and hired a new director of basketball operations.

Assistants Jack Wooten and Monty Sanders were promoted to top assistant positions, and Chris Long, formerly the director of basketball operations, was promoted to an assistant coach. Elon has hired J.B. Tanner, who spent the last three years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as the new director of basketball operations.

Sweeney left in August for the head coaching job at Division-III Hobart College in New York.

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Tanner's hire was announced Thursday. He held the same position for the last three years at UNCG, and was a graduate assistant under Shaka Smart at Virginia Commonwealth University for the two years before that. He was a member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's 2009 national championship team, as was Wooten.

"I am very excited to join the staff Elon University,” Tanner said in a prepared statement. “I am thankful for this great opportunity to work with such outstanding student-athletes and coaches. It's a great time to be joining the Phoenix as Elon moves into the CAA and I am looking forward to taking on the challenges ahead."

Wooten, a graduate of Walter Williams High School in Burlington, is entering his fifth year as an Elon assistant. He spent a year as director of operations before being promoted.

Sanders played for Elon, earning letters in 2008 and 2009.  He spent 2010-to-2012 as the director of basketball operations and last year as an assistant.

Long, also a former Elon player, spent two years playing professionally in Europe before taking the director of operations position last year.

“We’re excited about the increased responsibilities of Jack, Monty and Chris,” Matheny said. “All three guys have played a key role in the growth of our program and their energy and hard work will be very important as we enter our first season in the CAA.”