BREAKING: Wojcik hired at San Jose State

Dave Wojcik brings more than two decades of coaching experience including 11 postseason appearances as he accepts the San Jose State University head men’s basketball coaching position. Spartan Athletics Director Gene Bleymaier made the announcement.

“My family and I are thrilled and excited for this great opportunity,” said Wojcik. “I am honored to have the responsibility of taking San Jose State into the Mountain West, one of the best basketball conferences in the nation.

“My staff and I will bring in quality student-athletes who will represent San Jose State and the San Jose community with pride. I think the Spartan fans will be excited with how we play.”

Wojcik comes to San Jose State after spending the past three seasons as the associate head coach at Boise State under head coach Leon Rice. The Broncos received an at-large bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament and recorded the second 20-win season in three years and the fourth-most wins during the regular season in school history.

In three seasons at Boise State, the team moved from the Western Athletic Conference (2010-11) to the Mountain West (2011-12). In 2011, the team finished second in the WAC, played in the conference tournament championship game and reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational. Moving to the Mountain West in 2012, the Broncos finished tied for fourth with San Diego State.

“Dave is one of the most well-rounded coaches in the profession. He can recruit, he can coach and he relates well to his players. He has played an integral role in building this program the last three years, and his commitment and contributions were a big part of us getting to the NCAA Tournament this season. This is a terrific hire for San Jose State,” stated Rice.

The new Spartans’ head coach agreed to a five-year contract with San Jose State. He replaces George Nessman, who coached the team for the past seven seasons.

While this is his first head-coaching job, Wojcik has an extensive resume as an assistant coach at successful basketball programs. He started his coaching career in 1991-92 under Lefty Drisell at James Madison and then was hired the next season as an assistant at West Liberty State College. A graduate of Loyola University in Maryland, Wojcik returned to his alma mater in 1993 as an assistant to the former Wake Forest head coach, the late Skip Prosser. He helped coach the Greyhounds to the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance and MAAC title in 1994.

After the success at Loyola, Wojcik followed Prosser to Xavier in 1994, where he spent four seasons as an assistant. The team reached the NCAA Tournament twice and won 59 games in two years. He coached James Posey, a first-round selection of the Denver Nuggets (No. 18 overall).

He returned to his alma mater in 1997 as the top assistant to current ESPN analyst Dino Gaudio. After three seasons, Wojcik took over as athletics director at Wheeling Central Catholic High School in Wheeling, W.V. He also coached the boy’s basketball team to back-to-back state titles in 2002 and 2003.

Returning to the college ranks, Wojcik coached at the U.S. Naval Academy (2004) and Dayton (2005) before spending the next four seasons (2006-09) as the associate head coach at the University of Tulsa, working on the staff of his brother Doug Wojcik. The Golden Hurricane recorded an 81-53 overall record during that time, including three consecutive 20-win seasons. The team won back-to-back Conference USA Tournament title games and the inaugural College Basketball Invitational in 2008 and reached the second round of the 2009 NIT.

He spent the 2009-10 season at Wake Forest University under Gaudio where he coached Ishmael Smith, a current member of the Milwaukee Bucks and Al-Farouq Aminu, the eighth-overall selection of the 2010 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and currently with the New Orleans Hornets.

“We are very pleased to have attracted a person of Dave’s background and experience to San Jose State University,” stated Bleymaier. “He will be a tremendous asset to our basketball program and to the community.”

As a collegiate player at Loyola in Baltimore, Md., Wojcik is the only player in school history to record a triple-double, with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against St. Francis (Pa.) in 1989.