Furney Named Assistant Coach

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma and men's gymnastics head coach Mark Williams announced the hiring of Daniel Furney as assistant coach Wednesday. Furney, a former Sooner gymnast, was a member of the 2002 and 2003 NCAA championship teams at OU. In addition, he is one of only five Oklahoma gymnasts to win two NCAA individual titles.

“We are really excited to bring Daniel back into our program, this time on the coaching staff,” said Williams. “With being the national all-around champion and Nissen Emery award winner in 2003, Daniel has had one of the most prestigious careers in this program's history. We feel like since he's had that experience here as a student-athlete, he will be able to impart a lot of knowledge on our current student-athletes.”

It is the second assistant that Williams has hired in the past month. Rustam Sharipov was added to the staff on Aug. 3, replacing former assistant Guard Young. The addition of Furney solidifies the staff for the upcoming 2006 season in which the Sooners hope to compete for the program's seventh national title and fourth in the last five years.

“I feel extremely privileged to become a member of the coaching staff of the best program in the nation,” said Furney. “I look forward not just to being a coach, but to being a mentor for these young men, both athletically and academically. It's a great honor to be able to have the opportunity to build upon the tradition that I was a part of at OU as a student-athlete.”

One of the most decorated gymnasts in the program's history, Furney was named the school's fifth Nissen Emery winner prior to the 2003 NCAA Championships. That was just the start of a successful championship weekend for the then-senior. Besides helping the Sooners to their second straight national championship and a perfect 26-0 record, Furney was the NCAA All-Around Champion with a score of 56.100. The all-around wasn't the only event that Furney picked up a NCAA individual championship on, winning a title on the parallel bars one day later.

Furney's nine career All-America honors is tied for the most in OU history with Bart Conner. His most successful year was in 2003 when he earned four All-America honors (all-around, vault, parallel bars, high bar). In 2002, Furney picked up All-America honors on the vault, high bar and all-around and in 2001 on the pommel horse and still rings.

Furney also picked up two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation individual conference championships throughout his career; in the all-around in 2003 and on the pommel horse in 2003. In addition, he was a member of the three conference championships teams at OU.

A former U.S. Senior National Team member (2001-02), Furney, along with OU's graduate assistant Jock Stevens, holds OU's record on the vault with a 9.7.

Furney graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2004 with a degree in communications. He then received his masters from OU in higher education administration (with a emphasis on collegiate administration) in May of 2005.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Furney was married on Aug. 20th, 2005 to the former Emily Land.

Furney replaces former OU assistant Yuan Xiao who accepted an assistant coaching position at the University of Michigan. With Xiao's departure, Sharipov is the lead assistant on Williams' staff.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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