Wayne State College Director of Athletics Mike Powicki announced today that Jeff Kaminsky has been named head men’s basketball coach at Wayne State College. He becomes the 27th head coach in the 102-year history of the program. A press conference to formally introduce Kaminsky as the new men’s basketball coach at Wayne State College will be held at a later date to be announced.
“We are excited to have Jeff Kaminsky take over the leadership of our men’s basketball program,” commented Powicki. “Jeff has numerous years of head coaching experience at various levels and brings a track record of successfully re-building programs in challenging situations. Jeff showed he has a vision for the future of Wildcat men’s basketball and a clear plan for how to get there. I am confident he is ready for the challenge of turning Wildcat men’s basketball into a contender.”
Kaminsky just completed his 11th season as head coach at Valley City State University in North Dakota where he coached the Vikings to a 22-11 record and a share of the North Star Athletic Association regular season championship. Valley City State advanced to the second round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament for just the second time in program history and finished the season ranked 21st in the final NAIA Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
Under Kaminsky, Valley City State has recorded 20-win seasons in five of the last nine years and the Vikings posted a 183-144 record in Kaminsky’s 11 years at the school.
Kaminsky has 29 years of collegiate head coaching experience and brings 452 career wins to the Wildcat program. He also served as head coach for 11 years at Wisconsin-Superior (1994-2005) that included four years as interim athletic director from 2000-2004 and spent seven years as head coach of Mid State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin where he re-built a struggling program and recorded a 153-70 record with three consecutive Wisconsin Junior College Championships.
Kaminsky got his start in college coaching as a graduate assistant at Division I Kent State, where he received his master’s degree in sport psychology. Kaminsky earned his undergraduate degree (psychology) from Grand Valley State in Michigan where he was named the GLIAC Scholar Athlete of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year helping GVSU to a 21-7 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a senior.
“I want to thank Mike Powicki, Mike Barry and the entire committee for providing me with the opportunity to come to Wayne State College,” said Kaminsky. “I am honored to be the next men’s basketball coach at WSC and look forward to getting started. The NSIC is a conference I am familiar with having been on 15 of the campuses. I have great respect for the conference and I am extremely excited to be a part of it.”
Kaminsky added, “The opportunity to rebuild a program that has an opportunity to be successful again. I have great respect for the tradition of the program and especially for what Coach McDermott was able to accomplish here. The city of Wayne and Wayne State College is appealing to me and my wife Cindy for a lot of reasons and we are looking forward to being a part of the community and WSC.”
Kaminsky takes over a Wildcat program that was 5-24 overall and 3-19 in the NSIC this season and graduated just one senior. Wayne State College is an NCAA Division II school located in Wayne, Nebraska and competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
