After it was announced Dustin Kerns would become the 22nd coach in Appalachian State men’s basketball history, a new era of App State basketball was officially underway.

Kerns has arrived at a program in need of a boost. During the five-year tenure of previous coach Jim Fox, the Mountaineers won only 56 games and haven’t played in a postseason tournament since 2010. A jump from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt brought a bump in the caliber of competition, and the team is still struggling to establish itself as a legitimate contender in its new league.

Kerns will also deal with a step up in competition from the Big South Conference, which is the league Presbyterian plays. Despite the increase in talent, Kerns doesn’t plan on changing the approach that worked for him in the past as he looks to rebuild the App State program.

“We’re not gonna change who we are, we’re not gonna change what we do,” he said. “We believe in it. We’re setting to build a program, not a team.”

Despite being accustomed to turning around the fortunes of programs after his work at Presbyterian, Kerns has his work cut out for him in righting the Mountaineer ship. While possessing a vision for the future of the program and what he wants it to become, Kerns doesn’t want to lose sight of the here and now.

"My expectations and my standards are now," Kerns told ASI. "I was the head coach at Presbyterian and took over a program that had 12 straight losing seasons and coming off of a five-win year. I didn't go there and say we're gonna build for year three or year five. I don't care what we've done here in the past, we win here and that's our expectation... I want to win now."

In order to get the basketball program to the top, Kerns said he will take a process-oriented approach.

“Instead of talking about winning championships, we talk about what it takes to become a champion,” he said. “If you embody what a champion does, the way a champion works, the way a champion acts, the results take care of itself and you get the championship.

“We’re not always gonna focus on the results, we’re gonna focus on the process. When you’re all about winning, you lose sight of the other things.”

While Kerns possesses a competitive nature, he also hopes to make an impact in more than just the win column with the Mountaineers’ program.

“Basketball is what I do, but it’s not who I am,” he said. “Professionally, I know I’m judged on wins and losses. Personally, I know I judge myself on making better men, on them becoming really good husbands one day, good fathers, people in the community…are they graduating? Did we have a great experience? That’s what I really judge myself on.”

A native of Kingsport, TN, Kerns has always thought highly of App State and the community. He believes that same love of the mountains that drew him here will also aide in building the program.

“It’s a wonderful place,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone that didn’t love App State that went to school here. It’s a true family atmosphere and I also think there’s something special in these mountains and I think it’s real. I think timing in life is everything and the

time at App State is now.”