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Brion Raven Named Men's Basketball Director Of Operations
Comes To The Hilltop After Two Years At Georgia


June 11, 2008

DALLAS (SMU) - Brion Raven has been named director of operations for SMU men's basketball, head coach Matt Doherty announced on Wednesday. Raven comes to the Hilltop after two seasons as the program coordinator with the Georgia men's basketball team. He has also worked for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Bobcats.

"Brion is an excellent addition to our staff," says Doherty. "He brings outstanding operations experience at the collegiate and professional levels. His experience and attention to detail will help us continue to advance the SMU basketball program."

Raven is returning to his hometown area. He is a Grand Prairie, Texas, native and a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M. Raven's duties will include scheduling practice, arranging travel, coordinating video exchange, and overseeing the team's managers.

"Coach Doherty and his staff have SMU basketball headed in the right direction," states Raven. "The commitment from the University and athletic department are obvious through the Crum Basketball Center and other improvements. I am excited and honored to be a part of SMU basketball."

As Georgia's program coordinator for the men's basketball team, he managed the day-to-day operations of the basketball office, served as the team's traveling administrative assistant, helped monitor the academic progress of several players and worked as a liaison between the program and support groups such as the "G" Club and Tip-Off Club.

Raven went to Georgia after an internship with the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2005-06 NBA season. He served primarily in the 76ers' video operation, working closely with the General Manager and Director of Player Personnel in producing tapes of all prospective draftees. He also videotaped practices and individual workouts, as well as managed and updated scouting databases.

Before joining the 76ers, Raven spent the summer of 2005 as an intern with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. He served his internship in the Community Relations department and also worked as a counselor at the 2005 Bernie Bickerstaff Basketball Camp in Charlotte.

A native of Grand Prairie, Texas, Raven is a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in sports management. He worked two years in the Aggies' marketing and promotions office as a student. In his last year in College Station, he played on an intramural basketball team which won the American Collegiate Intramural Sports national championship.

When the past DOO was moved into a coaching position a few people started yelling about the move and that we should have hired a more experienced coach for the bench. I asked that the yelling stop until we knew what was going to happen with the DOO position. My thoughts were that we might use it as a liason for Dallas area coaches or some other need while letting the travel arrangements, etc. fall to someone else already on the staff. Obviuosly this did not occur as I had speculated, so for those of you still upset.....LET THE YELLING BEGIN!!!!

mrydel wrote:When the past DOO was moved into a coaching position a few people started yelling about the move and that we should have hired a more experienced coach for the bench. I asked that the yelling stop until we knew what was going to happen with the DOO position. My thoughts were that we might use it as a liason for Dallas area coaches or some other need while letting the travel arrangements, etc. fall to someone else already on the staff. Obviuosly this did not occur as I had speculated, so for those of you still upset.....LET THE YELLING BEGIN!!!!

He is an Aggie

Welcome to SMU Brion!

I grew up with Brion - we were classmates from K-12. He's definitely a bright kid and a genuinely good person. He'll undoubtedly be an asset to the program (even if he is an Aggie).

Welcome to SMU, Brion!

He is also from Grand Prairie so he is a DFW native.

mrydel wrote:When the past DOO was moved into a coaching position a few people started yelling about the move and that we should have hired a more experienced coach for the bench. I asked that the yelling stop until we knew what was going to happen with the DOO position. My thoughts were that we might use it as a liason for Dallas area coaches or some other need while letting the travel arrangements, etc. fall to someone else already on the staff. Obviuosly this did not occur as I had speculated, so for those of you still upset.....LET THE YELLING BEGIN!!!!

Aside from the Head Doh, are the other 3 assistants road recruiting assistants, or is one of the assistants strictly local? If one wasn't a road recruiter, its possible the new DOO could also be active on the trail. I can think of a few schools that do this currently. Mostly, it happens when the head assistant is older and has head coaching experience. Basically, an associate head coach.

Really? I was under the impression the director of ops isn't allowed to go out on the road recruiting.
Perhaps you should turn those other schools in.

SMUFan wrote:Really? I was under the impression the director of ops isn't allowed to go out on the road recruiting.
Perhaps you should turn those other schools in.

Yea, I could be wrong here. I was doing some research on the guys I was thinking about, and both seem to have moved from DOO to an assistants role

You should still turn them in.