American International Director of Athletics Matthew Johnson has announced the hiring of Andy Burkholder as the 13th Head Men’s Basketball coach in program history.
Burkholder, American International’s Director of Compliance since 2011, sat on the bench as an assistant under former head coach, Art Luptowski, from 2005-11. Luptowski left AIC this past summer after taking a job as an Advanced Scout for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association.
"Andy has been an integral part of the Athletic Department for over 10 years in his roles as assistant men’s basketball coach and compliance coordinator. He has proven to be an extremely hard working, competent administrator and former head coach, Art Luptowski, refers to him as one of the best basketball people he has ever been around. I know that this has been a dream of Andy’s since coming to AIC and I have no doubt that the men’s basketball program is in good hands under his leadership," said Johnson on the hire.
After the 2011 season, Burkholder stepped away from basketball for his family, but it was always his goal to one day rejoin the team.
"This is something I have wanted to do for a long time now," said Burkholder of the opportunity. "Life just kind of happened."
The Yellow Jackets finished 9-19 last season and 6-14 in Northeast-10 Conference play, earning the eighth seed in the NE-10 Championship Tournament.
"I think we have a lot of good pieces to have a successful season," said Burkholder. "It all depends on how well we come together as a team… It’s all new"
According to Burkholder, the biggest challenge ahead of the Yellow Jackets is coming together as a team and implementing new philosophies in just a short amount of time. He praised the work of Assistant coach Chris Oroszko, who filled in on an interim basis and has worked recruiting and prepping the team during the ongoing search.
"Chris did a good job getting things ready, getting them in shape and keeping them focused."
Burkholder played his college ball at Elizabethtown (Pa.) from 1993-97 and began his coaching career there from 1997-02, helping the Blue Jays earn a trip to the Division III National Championship in his final season.
He then became an assistant at nearby Springfield College from 2002-04 before spending a year at Division II Shepherd the following year.
"I want to thank the administration, the search committee, Executive VP for Administration Mark Berman and Athletic Director Matt Johnson for this opportunity."
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