Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg has filled one of his two assistant coaching vacancies. Greenberg today announced the promotion of Adrian Autry, his director of basketball operations.

Autry, 38, spent the past two seasons in that non-coaching position, which involves scheduling, travel planning and organizing Tech’s summer camps. Despite his lack of college coaching experience, he has recruiting connections to the Washington, D.C. area, which Greenberg targets aggressively.

Autry was previously an assistant coach at Paul VI High in Fairfax (2007-08) and an associate head coach at Bishop Ireton High in Alexandria (2005-07). Both private schools participate in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, which produces some of that region’s best players.

Moreover, from March 2006 until Greenberg hired him, Autry was an assistant coach with two D.C.-area AAU teams (Triple Threat and Team Takeover) and a head coach in another (NOVA United).

“I kind of navigated pretty well and I made some strong connections up there,” Autry said, adding that he has kept in touch with his contacts since he came to Blacksburg.

Autry in 1990 was a McDonald’s All-American at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High in Bronx, N.Y. He went to Syracuse, where he was the starting point guard for four years and graduated in 1994. After college, he played professionally for 11 years in Greece, Russia, Italy, Spain and France.

Greenberg lost two of his three assistants last month when Ryan Odom took an assistant job at Charlotte and Bill Courtney became a head coach for the first time, at Cornell. James Johnson also interviewed for the head coaching job at Gardner-Webb, but the school opted for Ohio assistant Chris Holtmann.

Soon after Odom’s departure on April 13, Autry began filling in for Odom, as he did when another assistant, Stacey Palmore, left after last season to become an assistant at Georgia. In addition to his regular duties, Autry has been supervising the Hokies’ end-of-season workouts.

Autry figured when Greenberg hired him as director of basketball operations that Greenberg might eventually give him a chance to become a coach. “I think that was the plan from the beginning,” Autry said.

There are certainly perks to Autry’s promotion. He was earning about $47,000, compared to $135,000 for Courtney, $111,000 for Odom and $100,000 for Johnson. But Autry’s workload also figures to increase, especially since he has to continue performing two jobs until Greenberg hires a new director of basketball operations. “No breather,” he said.

In the meantime, there is the summer recruiting schedule to hash out and the smaller matter of whether Autry will even bother switching offices – his is the same size as the assistant coaches’ – or just switch the sign outside the door to reflect his promotion.

“I’m still learning, but it was a great chance to get my foot in the door,” Autry said. “I had two years to kind of see how it works. I’m gonna still take some bumps and bruises. But it should still be pretty smooth. You say that. I know it’s a lot and encompasses a lot.”

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