Duane Ticknor To Be New Fort Wayne Mad Ants Head Coach

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants decided to open up their head coaching job following a less-than-stellar season and, despite interviewing interim coach Steve Gansey for the position, Jeff Potter decided to add a bit more experience to the sideline.

It would have been great to see what Gansey could have done with a full offseason, but new hire Duane Ticknor certainly shouldn't hurt the program. He's been one of the premier minor league coaches for quite some time, dating back to his days with the Black Hills Posse of the IBA, and has plenty of experience in the D-League as a former head coach of the Dakota Wizards and Sioux Falls Skyforce.

It's interesting that Ticknor's decided to take a head coaching position back in the D-League considering he had a pretty solid job in Korea he could've returned to and has turned down head coaching jobs in the past couple of years. Nonetheless, it's a pretty good get for a Mad Ants team that has never posted a .500 season as they struggle to put talented teams on the court.

Ticknor's coaching tree includes a lot of good coaches, by the way, including Memphis Grizzlies assistant Dave Joerger, New Orleans Hornets assistant Bryan Gates and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Nate Tibbetts.

Fort Wayne ended last season as the D-League affiliates of the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers, but rumors around the league have indicated there's a chance the Pacers could make a move to buy the Mad Ants and operate both of Indiana's professional basketball teams.