WILLIAMSBURG (WAVY) — Former Cornell University head coach Brian Earl was introduced as the new men’s basketball coach at William & Mary.

The 47-year-old South Jersey native plans to bring a fast-paced, high-scoring offense to Williamsburg, but also one that does not sacrifice on defense.

Earl graduated from Princeton and then worked there as an assistant coach before taking the head position at Cornell.

He spent seven seasons as Cornell head coach, and his team went 22-8 this past season before losing to Ohio State in the NIT.

With two stints at Ivy League universities, he knows what it’s like to recruit athletes to a program that has high academic standards.

“I have experience at similar institutions,” Earl said. “There’s an opportunity to grow the program and win some games, so it checked almost every box.”

Athletic Director Brian Mann said he had countless applicants, saying he wished he changed phone numbers because of the number of calls he received.

“He does on paper have a lot the things we were looking for, but there’s something else there,” Mann said. “There’s a guy who is honestly and authentically committed to a world class education and winning championships in basketball.”

William & Mary is one of four original NCAA teams to never make the national tournament.

The Tribe have been close though. Under Tony Shave, William & Mary made it to the CAA championship game four times.

Now it’s Brian Earl’s turn to try and get the Tribe to the Big Dance.

“There’s no guarantees, but we are going to fight hard to try and get to the NCAA Tournament,” Earl said. “We’re going to bring in guys who represent the school in the best way possible.”

Earl is Mann’s first men’s basketball head coaching hire since being named athletic director. Mann said that while he wants to get to the tournament as much as anybody else, he’s also preaching patience.

“First we have to build a program that puts ourselves in a position to get there,” Mann said “He’s proven that he can do that and if [he] had stayed at Cornell any length of time beyond this, I’m sure he would have been there.”