Former UNC basketball guard Jeff McInnis hired as assistant at Charleston

Jeff McInnis played for the UNC basketball program from 1993-1996. He was a two-time All-ACC performer and was on the 1995 All-ACC tourney team. McInnis averaged 11.3 points per game over his career and was known as a sharpshooter from behind the arc, shooting 40% from three over his career.

The new head coach at the College of Charleston, Chris Mack, hired McInnis as an assistant coach yesterday afternoon in an effort to bolster his new staff.

McInnis doesn't have any collegiate coaching experience, but he has experience in coaching overall. McInnis has developed prospects from North Carolina and South Carolina using his Team Charlotte AAU team. McInnis founded the organization in 2009, and he became the head coach at Combine Academy in Lincolnton, N.C., in 2019.

His experience on developing talent and recruiting is very useful to Chris Mack and the Cougars, who'll likely be starting from scratch after former coach Pat Kelsey took the Louisville job. Charleston's most notable loss this offseason has been Reyne Smith, who averaged 13 points per game while shooting 40% from three.

McInnis was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He had short stints with the Nuggets and Wizards before joining the Clippers in 1999. McInnis found his footing in Los Angeles, and in 2000, he won the league's Most Improved Player award, averaging 13 points and six assists per game. The next season he averaged a career-high 15 points per game and six assists per game. From there, he had stints with the Blazers, Cavaliers, Nets, and Bobcats before calling it a career in 2008. McInnis finished with career averages of nine points, four assists, and two rebounds per game.

It will be interesting to see what dynamic McInnis will add to Chris Mack's coaching staff in 2024. The two will embark on a big journey to rebuild a Charleston program that has had lots of recent success. The Cougars won the CAA back-to-back years with Pat Kelsey at the helm and have also made the NCAA tournament the last two seasons.