ISU men’s basketball associate head coach Leonard Perry will be leaving the program to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, the University of Idaho athletic department announced Tuesday.

Perry, 32, was the only candidate to be interviewed by Idaho Athletic Director Mike Bohn and President Robert Hoover. Perry accepted the job Monday. Perry will replace David Farrar who totaled a record of 49-61 in four years of coaching at Idaho.

“From day one of the search, Leonard expressed a sincere commitment to being a leader on campus and in the community,” Hoover stated in a press release. “Leonard not only knows the intricacies of the game of basketball, but he brings a knowledge of and love of the University of Idaho.”

Perry played for the Vandals from 1989-91 after competing two years at a junior college. He helped lead the team to a Big Sky Championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s special to be able to come back to Idaho,” Perry said in a press release. “There are some huge holes to fill with the long run of coaches who put this program on the map. I have the utmost respect for the coaches who came before me.”

As a senior, Perry played for ISU head coach Larry Eustachy during Eustachy’s first year at Idaho. Perry’s coaching career started as a student assistant at Idaho from 1993-1995.

Perry then took an assistant job under Eustachy at Utah State from 1995-98 and came with Eustachy to Iowa State in 1998 when Eustachy was hired to replace the departing Tim Floyd.

While at Iowa State, Perry was a member of the Cyclone coaching staff that led the team to back-to-back Big 12 regular season championships and advancement to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament last season.