Just weeks into his tenure as the Troy University men’s basketball coach, Phil Cunningham is on the road selling his program.

The former Mississippi State and Western Kentucky assistant retained Ben Fletcher and added Marcus Grant to his staff on April 4.

Cunningham says he expects to add a Director of Basketball Operations and another assistant in the coming weeks but is concentrating on recruiting and selling the Troy program to prospective athletes.

“What we’re able to do right now (having three coaches) is put some eyes on some guys that are already here and see what we have coming back. It will also allow us to see what holes we need to fill,” Cunningham said. “One thing we always tell recruits is that (choosing a school) is the one decision you can be selfish about. It’s all about what school fits you the best. Once you make that choice, it’s all about the team.”

Cunningham says that there will be an opportunity for incoming players to quickly make an impact.

“We only have a handful of guys coming back that have played a lot of minutes or put up big numbers. There is a chance there for a guy to come in and get some playing time and really help this team,” Cunningham said.

While Cunningham’s style of play may contrast former head coach Don Maestri’s, the new coach wants it to be exciting.

“We want to be competitive from day one. We’re going to be patient in recruiting but we want to be exciting. I want to have a team that if I’m a fan, I’m going to come out and watch because I know that we are going to compete and be fun to watch. Those are two things I want to do right off the bat. I want to be competitive and I want to be exciting.”