Liberty has hired Marquette assistant coach Dale Layer to replace Ritchie McKay as Liberty’s coach. McKay left Liberty to become an assistant at Virginia. Layer had worked on McKay’s staff with the Flames during the 2007-08 season before moving to Marquette this past season. Layer has Division I head coaching experience at Colorado State. A university press release shares some of Layer’s accolades.
This will be Layer’s third head coaching stint and first since leaving Colorado State in 2007. Layer, 50, comes to Liberty most recently from a successful run as an assistant coach at BIG EAST member and nationally ranked Marquette this past season where he worked with the guards. Layer helped the Eagles to a 25-10 record and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament despite lacking the full-time services of All-American Dominic James, who injured himself near the end of the season.
Layer has also demonstrated the ability to develop talent, including former Colorado State center Jason Smith. The seven-footer scored over 1,500 points for Layer’s Rams during his three seasons with the program before entering the NBA Draft following his junior campaign.
