Bill Courtney spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Virginia.

He will be spending next season as an assistant at Virginia Tech.

Tech men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg is filling the vacancy on his staff with Courtney, who has spent the past two months as an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth.

Courtney was hired by new VCU coach Shaka Smart after Dave Leitao lost his job as UVa's coach.

Tech has not yet announced the hiring of Courtney. But Courtney informed his good friend and former boss, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga.

"His career was on the rise. It took a little downturn when the Virginia thing did not work," Larranaga said Tuesday.

"Going from VCU to Virginia Tech is consistent with the direction his career was going in. The ACC is considered the premier college basketball league. To have the opportunity to get right back in the ACC was an opportunity he could not pass up. You can't control the timing when you're an assistant coach."

Courtney replaces Stacey Palmore, who left in May to become an assistant at Georgia.

Courtney spent eight seasons with Larranaga at George Mason after previously working for him at Bowling Green. Courtney left George Mason in 2005 to become an assistant at Providence.

Larranaga -- who recommended Courtney to Greenberg -- said Courtney was "instrumental" in recruiting the players who led the Patriots to the 2006 Final Four.

"He got that whole team. He was extremely valuable to our program in helping us get to the Final Four," Larranaga said.