Marc 19, 2007
Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune:
At 25, Currier is Already A Head Coach

This article is reprinted with permission of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. It ran on March 12, 2007.
Learn more about the Eagle-Tribune by clicking here.
By Chuck Frye, Eagle Tribune Writer

(Nashua) - Jeremy Currier quickly learned the value of personal investment necessary to excel in athletics and in life.

Spending his first two years at Central Catholic, he split his time with the varsity and junior varsity programs. This often meant waking up at 3:30 a.m. for 5 a.m. practices with the big squad, a full day of education, then workouts with the JVs and some studying. Campus time sometimes extended as late as 10:30 p.m.

Rather than grouse about the lack of personal liberty, the scrappy scoring machine from Hampstead, N.H., found that unwavering commitment can provide endless opportunities.

With hard work throughout high school and college increasingly rewarded with success, he decided to transition to the educational side of the sport and continued his meteoric rise unabated. After just one year as an assistant coach, the ultimate prize came recently when the 25-year-old was promoted to head men's basketball coach at Daniel Webster College in Nashua.

"Being a head coach is the ultimate goal for everyone in the business," Currier said.

"I figured it would take a couple of years but it was one of those timing situations."
Former head coach Eddie Quick resigned after one season to become a high school teacher in Connecticut.

The road to running a program seems swift | Currier becomes one of the youngest head coaches in the country | but not surprising.

A move to Pinkerton Academy as a junior saw Currier's career soar. He was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star and the leading scorer in N.H. as a senior. At Endicott College, Currier rewrote much of the Gulls record books with his brilliant long-range shooting.

Passing on the chance to play pro ball in Mexico, Russia, Switzerland and New Zealand, Currier used his degree in sport management wisely as Director of Basketball Operations for Hoop Specialists in North Andover and as an AAU coach.
 

"Being involved with youth basketball and AAU has helped tremendously," Currier said. "It has allowed me to develop relationships that have resulted in bringing in some of the top recruits in New England to Daniel Webster College for our first recruiting class."
 

Currier also squeezed in a year and a half of intern work with the Boston Celtics in sales, marketing and community service. Currier spent quality time with legendary guard Jo Jo White, All-Star Paul Pierce and head coach Doc Rivers.

When he was hired as a DWC assistant, the Eagles were coming off a winless 2005-06 campaign. Walking the walk right off the bat with 14-to-18 hour workdays, Quick and Currier brought in five freshmen who helped Division 3 Daniel Webster garner six victories this season. Currier also got a taste of the top spot when Quick took a two-week mid-season sabbatical, holding the reins on an interim basis.

Currier will be hitting the road hard in search of talent. He already landed the two Salem High stars who led the Witches over Andover in the Mass. Division 1 North tourney.  "My time is better spent on the recruiting trail this summer," he explained, "the AAU Nationals in Orlando, BIG TIME Tourney in Las Vegas, the New England Top 100, Beast of the East Tourney, and many more. My focus now is to make Daniel Webster College basketball as successful as possible, and this requires seeing as many recruitable student-athletes as possible throughout the summer."
Reveling in the quest will be second-year assistant coach and former Pinkerton teammate Mark Dunham.

"Any time you take over an 0-25 program, you know you need new faces," Currier said. "And talent-wise, it's hard to win with freshmen. We've learned that. But now that they're a year older and seasoned, we're looking to them to be floor leaders. They're up to the challenge."

Point guard Jamie Bryant (15.7 points a game) is pegged to be one of the focal points as will senior Ryan Middlemiss of Methuen. Middlemiss, who was second in the league in assists (4.0) and eighth in steals (1.8), has a 3.6 GPA and was nominated for academic All-American.

"Those two guys are the kind of players the program wants," Currier said.
In other words, smart players who will work hard to succeed. Just like their head coach did.

Chuck Frye is a sportswriter for The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass.

Currier Files
Name: Jeremy Currier
Hometown: Hampstead, N.H.
Age: 25
Professional highlights: Newly named head basketball coach at Daniel Webster College; as first-year assistant last year helped DWC rebound from 0-25 season to post 6-18 record; former intern with Boston Celtics.
Endicott College highlights: Scored 1,107 points; owns school records for career 3-point shooting percentage (173-425, .407), 3-point percentage in a season (led country in 2002-03 with 77-148, .520), 3-pointers in a game (8) and 3-pointers in a career (173).
Pinkerton Academy highlights: In two years after transferring from Central Catholic scored 930 points; averaged 13.1 ppg as a junior; as a senior averaged a state-leading 27.3 ppg including high games of 49 and 48 points; made 58 3-pointers as a senior and 26 as a junior.