Earl replaced Duggar Baucom, who departed for military rival The Citadel in March 2015.

In addition to four seniors, VMI also lost sophomore forward Craig Hinton to transfer.

In addition to the departure of Baucom, VMI assistant coaches Daniel Willis and Ryan Mattocks also left for The Citadel.

In May, Earl announced three hires to the coaching staff: Steve Lepore, Chris Kreider, and Jason Slay.

[2] Lepore came from Hargrave Military Academy and played college basketball at Wake Forest where he graduated in 2003.