Kansas Hires Tennessee's Pritt as New Diving Coach

May 23, 2013

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas head swimming and diving coach Clark Campbell announced Brian Pritt will join the program as the new diving coach Thursday morning.

Pritt comes to Kansas after a three-year stint as the volunteer assistant coach at the University of Tennessee and takes over for Eric Elliott, who resigned his post after the 2013 season to pursue other opportunities.

“I think (Brian) is going to come in and really get it done,” Campbell said. “He knows what he is doing, he knows how to develop athletes and with the respect that he has within the diving community, there are going to be a lot of doors that open for us that may have not been there without him.”

Pritt dove collegiately at the University of Tennessee from 1990-95 and has been coaching diving in the Tennessee area for the last five years. While diving for the Volunteers, Pritt was a two-time NCAA Qualifier in 1993 and 1994. In addition to his time as a volunteer assistant, Pritt has spent several years coaching and gaining respect on the club diving circuit with the Age Group program in Tennessee.

“I think it is a huge opportunity for me,” Pritt said. “It’s been the goal ever since I started coaching to be (a head diving coach) in college. I have been associated with a giant Division I program with Tennessee and I love that atmosphere and that dynamic. I think Kansas is only going up, so I want to add something. It is a great opportunity for me and my family.”

A staple in the national scene as well, Pritt has served as a meet director or assistant meet director for four National Diving Championships since 2005.

“He is very well respected among the club circles throughout the United States,” Campbell said. “Everybody knows who Brian Pritt is. I think he is going to be able to recruit to Kansas very well, because he is so well respected and he has done a lot of great things with a lot of different athletes. He has a long track record of making kids better and competing at the highest level.”

Pritt competed and coached under head diving coach Dave Parrington at Tennessee, who was named the 2013 CSCAA National Women’s Diving Coach of the Year. Together he and Pritt guided Tori Lamp to a victory in the platform event at the SEC Championships and a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

“Dave and I came to Tennessee at the same time,” Pritt said. “I was his first diver when he came from Houston in 1990, so we have been together for a long time. He has been a great mentor to me and he definitely knows his stuff. I have learned a lot from him and grow with him. I have learned a lot along the way, too, and he has been there every step of the way and he has always been so supportive of me. I couldn’t ask for a better coach.”

Pritt believes that his work with Parrington – in addition to his own personal experience on the boards – will be beneficial for him as he takes over the Kansas program.

“I’m a technical coach,” Pritt said. “I feel like I have that background of getting people ready to compete, honing in on their dives and being able to be consistent with that. That is the key and obviously the athlete has a lot to do with that. I know what it takes to do dives mechanically correct and I have a good grasp of what it’s like to be a diver and a student-athlete.”

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