Replacing former App State assistant and North Carolina basketball player Jason Capel, who went 53-70 in four seasons, in 2014, Fox’s first season featured a postseason ban due to low APR scores from the 2012-13 season. The APR, which stands for Academic Progress Rate, is a term-by-term calculation of the eligibility and retention of all student-athletes according to the NCAA.

Under Fox, the APR for the App State program has registered a rating higher than 950 in every season that’s been calculated — the most recent APR scores right now are from the 2016-17 season — including back-to-back ratings of 980. A perfect APR score is 1,000, while the minimum for Division-I programs is 930.

Fox’s time at App State started with promise despite the NCAA’s punishment. In his third game with Appalachian, he coached the team to a 65-63 win against Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers went 9-11 in conference play and won 12 games overall, including their final three of the regular season.

A defining trait of App State under Fox was close games where, more often than not, the Mountaineers lost. In games decided by 10 points or less, App State was 32-48. That includes this season’s terrible mark of 6-17 in that same scenario.