May 7, 2008

TCU head men's basketball coach Jim Christian announced on Wednesday (May 7) that former Florida International assistant coach Bill Wuczynski has been added to the Horned Frogs' coaching staff.

"We are excited to have a coach of Bill's caliber join our staff," said Christian. "Bill is known around the nation as an excellent recruiter, is a very hard worker, and his knowledge of the teams in the Mountain West Conference will come in very valuable to our program."

Wuczynski comes to Fort Worth from Florida International where he spent three seasons as part of Sergio Rouco's staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. This past season - the Golden Panthers were only one of two teams in the Sun Belt Conference to have a pair of players ranked in the top-eight in rebounds per game in Alex Galindo (6.8 R-G) and Russell Hicks (6.1 R-G) - who ranked fifth and eighth, respectively.

The Golden Panthers finished third in the conference in blocked shots per game (3.69 B-G) and fifth in rebounding offense (35.3 R-G) and rebounding defense (31.8 R-G). In addition - Florida International had a pair of third team All-Sun Belt Conference selections in Galindo and Hicks.

This past season - the Golden Panthers played some of their best basketball against conference competition as Florida International recorded victories over Arkansas-Little Rock - who were the regular-season West Division champions - as well as Middle Tennessee State and New Orleans - who were two teams that finished with at least 17 victories during the 2007-08 campaign.

As a member of the coaching staff at Florida International - Wuczynski served as the recruiting coordinator for the past two seasons as well as assisted with game-day and practice coaching, scouting and player development.

Wuczynski was a member of the Loyola University-Chicago coaching staff for three seasons as an assistant coach before accepting a position at Florida International. With Wuczynski as a member of the coaching staff - the Ramblers recorded 32 victories over a two-season span - which were the most victories in back-to-back season in over a decade for Loyola University-Chicago.

In his first season on the coaching staff - the Ramblers came within a single basket of capturing the Horizon League Tournament Championship - which would have been their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1984-85 season.

Wuczynski played a major role in the resurgence of the Ramblers' basketball program as he recruited some top talent in Blake Schilb - a three-time Horizon League first team member - as well as 7-0 center Tyrelle Blair - who led the Horizon League in blocked shots as a sophomore before he left Loyola University-Chicago to join nationally-ranked Boston College.

As an assistant coach for the Ramblers - Wuczynski coached and recruited two of the top scoring threats to ever play for Loyola University-Chicago in Kevin Bailey and Schilb. A sophomore when Wuczynski joined the coaching staff - Bailey concluded his career ranked third on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,933 points while Schilb ranked fourth with 1,879 points after his four-year career. Wuczynski also played a role in the recruiting and development of Majak Kou - who ended his career ranked 20th on the all-time scoring list with 1,233 career points.

Familiar with Mountain West Conference opponents - Wuczynski spent five seasons at UNLV as both an assistant coach as well as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Runnin' Rebels. Wuczynski spent one season as an assistant coach under interim head coach Max Good as well as four seasons as Director of Basketball Operations under former UNLV coach, former Portland Trailblazers assistant coach and newly-named Loyola-Marymount head men's basketball coach Bill Bayno.

During his tenure with UNLV - Wuczynski coordinated all on-campus recruiting visits for high school and junior college players as well as scouting opponents and other on-court and off-court responsibilities for the Runnin' Rebels.

The Sporting News recognized the 1997 recruiting class of the Runnin' Rebels as the best in the nation while the 1999 recruiting class was ranked as the second-best class in the country by Hoop Scoop. As member of the UNLV staff - the Runnin' Rebels averaged over 20 victories per season and made four post-season appearances: two in the NCAA Tournament (1998 and 2000) and two in the NIT (1997 and 1999).

At UNLV - Wuczynski had the opportunity work with several NBA talents in Shawn Marion, Keon Clark, Tyrone Nesby and Marcus Banks as well as USA Olympic team member Lamar Odom and New Zealand Olympic point guard Mark Dickel - who was a standout at UNLV from 1996-2000.

Wuczynski graduated from UNLV with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1996 where he served as a member of the Runnin' Rebels program as a student assistant for two seasons.

Wuczynski joins newly-named assistant coach Jean Prioleau as the first two members of first-year head coach Jim Christian's staff at TCU.

TCU Athletic Media Relations