NC State rounded out its men’s basketball staff with the hire of veteran coach Heath Schroyer, who spent the last two years as head coach of the University of Tennessee-Martin, Mark Gottfried announced today.
“I’m excited to have Heath join our staff. He has done an outstanding job at UT-Martin, and has had success as both a head coach and as an assistant,” said Gottfried. “Heath’s programs have traditionally shown great improvement, he is a strong on-floor and in-game coach, and is a proven recruiter at the highest level.”
Schroyer, who will assume the role of assistant head coach, comes to the Wolfpack after leading UT-Martin to a pair of 20-win seasons in his two years as head coach.
“I’m really excited to join Coach Gottfried’s staff. NC State University is a program full of rich tradition and it’s an honor to serve in this role,” said Schroyer. “I have the utmost respect for the administration, the other coaches and the Wolfpack Nation. My family and I are excited to move to the Raleigh area and get started.”
Schroyer, 44, guided UT-Martin to a 41-28 mark (.594) and a pair of appearances in the CIT in his two years with the program. After inheriting an 8-win team at UT-Martin, he guided the Skyhawks to 21 wins in his first season leading the program and was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Associated Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year in 2014-15.
Additionally, he was a finalist for mid-major Coach of the Year, as the turnaround by the Skyhawks was the largest in the nation under a first-year coach in 2014-15.
His 2015-16 squad won the Ohio Valley Conference West Division, narrowly missing on an NCAA Tournament berth with a loss in the conference title game.
Prior to his time with at UT-Martin, Schroyer spent three years as an assistant at UNLV, where the Runnin’ Rebels won 71 games over his tenure, including seven over ranked opponents. In addition, he helped UNLV to the No. 7 recruiting class in the nation in 2012, a class that produced Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
As the recruiting coordinator for the Runnin’ Rebels, Schroyer helped land two Top-10 national recruiting classes, and the signing of four McDonald’s All-Americans. He was twice named among the Top 15 assistants in the nation in his three years at UNLV.
He arrived in Las Vegas after three-plus years as the head coach of Wyoming, where he led the Cowboys to a postseason appearance in 2008-09. From 2005-07, Schroyer served as associate head coach at Fresno State.
His first head coaching position came at Portland State in 2002, where at 30 years old, he was the second youngest head coach in the nation. Inheriting a program that had only competed at the Division I level for six seasons, Schroyer guided Portland State to a 14-game improvement over three years, leading the school to its first league title in any male sport in 2004-05.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at Fresno City College in 1996-97, before stops at BYU (1997-2001) and a year (2001-02) as an assistant at Wyoming, the school he would later return to as head coach.
Schroyer prepped at the prestigious DeMatha High School program in Hyattsville, Md., where he played for the legendary coach Morgan Wootten, whose 1,274 wins as a head coach are the second-most in the history of basketball at any level.
Earning his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Armstrong Atlantic State in 1995, Schroyer earned his Master’s degree in institutional leadership from National University in Fresno, Calif. in 1996.
A native of Walkersville, Md., Schroyer married the former Kim Ortega of Logandale, Nev., in May of 2014. He has one daughter, Sierra, and a son, Hayden, from a previous marriage.
Additionally, Gottfried announced long-time assistant Orlando Early and recent hireButch Pierre have also both been elevated to the roles of assistant head coach. The promotions and the addition of Schroyer complete Gottfried’s staff.
http://gopack.com/news/2016/4/21/heath-schroyer-assistant-head-coach.aspx
Photo Courtesy NC State Athletics
