RENO — Not too many Wolf Pack fans were surprised Friday afternoon when University of Nevada, Reno president Milton Glick announced that David Carter would be the school's next men's basketball coach.

Shortly after news came out Thursday night that former Pack coach Mark Fox had taken the job at Georgia, Carter's name surfaced as a potential replacement. Glick quipped about the decision to hire Carter, who has been an assistant at Nevada the past 10 seasons and was the Wolf Pack's associate head coach over the past four years.

"We really know how to keep a secret, don't we," Glick said sarcastically to a group of media and boosters as he prepared to introduce the new head coach at a Friday press conference. "We both agreed that anything less than: a winning team, all the kids graduating and maintaining good character, is a failure."

Carter, 42, was all smiles at the press conference, announcing his first college head coaching job.

"Wow, it's an exciting day for me and my family," Carter said. "I can't tell you how excited I am to be the next basketball coach at the University of Nevada. This program is not going backward. I promise you that.

"For a long time, I've wanted to be the head coach here. This is the place I wanted to be. I've had opportunities to go to other schools, but nothing felt right. This feels right."

Apparently the decision to promote Carter felt right to Nevada athletic director Cary Groth. She wasted little time naming Carter as Fox's replacement and never did put together a coaching search. Groth said in the previous 24 hours she'd been overwhelmed with outside interest about the job, but said she did not make any calls to others about the brief vacancy.

"I have been flooded with calls and e-mails from search firms, AD's and other coaches all expressing their interest," Groth said. "I put that aside. Actually, one of the first calls I got was from David Carter and he was asking, 'What can I do to help?'"

Groth said in recent seasons, mainly since Carter had become associate head coach, that she'd gotten a chance to see him coach, handle administrative duties and deal with circumstances arising from players making what she called 'less-than-great' decisions.

"He's handled himself in a professional way," Groth said. "I'm proud of the way he's handled those situations. I don't have concerns about David Carter."

Nevada has been to the postseason for seven straight years, all with Carter on the sidelines. The Wolf Pack went to the NIT in 2003 before making four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-2007. The Wolf Pack went to the Sweet 16 in 2004 and won first-round games in the 'Big Dance' in 2005 and 2007. Nevada, which has eclipsed the 20-win mark in each of the past six years, has played in the CBI the past two years.

The Wolf Pack won or shared the WAC regular season championship five straight years from 2004-2008. Nevada was picked in the preseason to win the WAC this past winter, but finished second to Utah State in both the regular season and WAC tournament.

Carter knows Nevada fans have grown accustomed to winning and he doesn't expect that to change. Nevada loses just one senior, Lyndale Burleson, from last year's WAC runner-up squad that finished the season 21-13.

"We’re going to compete every year for a championship — that’s our goal,’’ he said. ‘‘Play in the postseason. That’s always been our goal."

Carter stressed that he and Fox have many similarities in coaching styles, including their belief in the value of good character in players. However, he stressed they are not clones and do have coaching differences.

"I've always wanted to play a little more up-tempo," Carter said. "I was a point guard and liked to play more up-tempo. That will be one change."

Carter said he had spoken to the Nevada players, nearly all of whom were in attendance at Friday's press conference, about his hiring. He said he'd also spoken on the phone to two of Nevada's three incoming recruits, who had already signed letters of intent.

Nevada players seemed to be happy with the news that Carter would be taking over the Pack program.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Luke Babbitt, a Galena High grad who was named the WAC's Freshman of the Year this past season. "Coach Carter knows his X's and O's. He's got great relationships with players. He knows what he's doing."

The Wolf Pack has one open scholarship. Carter said he was leaning toward leaving that for a potential transfer rather than an incoming freshman, adding that he didn't know if there was a player out there who could help his team immediately.

With Fox leaving and taking assistant Kwanza Johnson with him to Georgia, the current Wolf Pack staff is comprised of Carter and assistant Doug Novsek. That leaves Carter with two vacant coaching positions to fill.

Carter is the second straight in-house basketball hire for Nevada. Fox was promoted in 2004 to take over for Trent Johnson, who left to go to Stanford. Johnson left the Cardinals after the 2007-08 season to take over at LSU.

Despite not doing a national or regional search on either occasion, Groth refused to say the two decisions have been simple.

"It's not easy. There's always a risk in hiring anybody, but I think sometimes it's harder to hire from within. You can't take anything for granted, even with those you work with. Sometimes you have to look harder."

Groth would not release financial details of Carter's new contract, saying only it was for five years and must be approved by Nevada's State Board of Regents, likely at their June meeting.

"I think that's something to talk about maybe next week," Groth said, alluding to the contract's financial package. "I'd rather not comment on that until David has had more of a chance to review it and given the time he needs. The important thing is that we're close and he's agreed to take the job."