Back on June 16th, HoopDirt.com reported that Jerry Wainwright would be named as the associate head coach at Fresno State (Fresno State Dirt). The hiring was finally made official by head coach Rodney Terry.
“I’m very ecstatic about Coach Wainwright joining our staff again,” Terry said. “Jerry is a mentor, a friend and someone that has a great basketball mind. There is not an experience that he hasn’t had at this level. He had a chance to spend a week with us last season where he came out and watched practice. He also went down to Florida to see us play out there, so he has that in terms of contact with our current players. With all of that and the older team we have, I think he is a great fit for what we are trying to do.”
Wainwright previously served in the same position for the Bulldogs during the 2011-12 season – Terry’s first season at Fresno State – and most recently coached at Marquette as an assistant coach from 2012-14, where he helped lead the Golden Eagles to their first Elite Eight appearance since 2003.
With 16 years of college head coaching under his belt, Wainwright’s last head coaching stop was a five year stretch on the sidelines at DePaul as head coach. During his collegiate head coaching tenure, Wainwright took his teams to seven postseason tournaments including three NCAA berths and four National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances.
Before joining DePaul, Wainwright spent three seasons as the head coach of Richmond, establishing the Spiders on the national stage as several team and individual accomplishments highlighted his tenure with the Atlantic 10 school. In 2003-04, Wainwright led Richmond to the NCAA Tournament, earning the program’s second-ever at-large berth behind the nation’s ninth-ranked defense.
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Prior to taking over at Richmond, Wainwright enjoyed a highly successful run as head coach at UNC-Wilmington. In eight seasons at UNCW, he compiled a 136-103 (.569) record. Wainwright piloted the Seahawks to a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament (2000, 2002) and the NIT (1998, 2001). During his tenure, the team captured three regular season Colonial Athletic Association titles and two CAA tournament crowns.
Preceding his time in Wilmington, he spent nine years as an assistant coach at Wake Forest. Under Bob Staak (1986-89) and Dave Odom (1989-94), he helped rebuild the Demon Deacons’ program. Besides on-the-court coaching, he assisted in recruiting NBA draft picks Chris King (Seattle), Rodney Rogers (Denver), Randolph Childress (Detroit) and Tim Duncan (San Antonio). He broke into the college coaching ranks in 1984-85 serving a one-year stint at Xavier under Staak.
A 1968 graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., Wainwright earned his graduate degree from the University of Denver.
Wainwright began his coaching career in the prep ranks first at Montrose High School in Denver where he led his team to the state tournament and was named Colorado District Coach of the Year in 1975. He returned to his native state, Illinois, as an assistant coach at East Leyden High School in suburban Chicago. While there, he helped teams compile an impressive 104-4 four-year record. Wainwright also coached at Chicago’s Highland Park High School, directing his team to the state’s “Sweet 16” in 1982.
A native of Berwyn, Ill., Wainwright is married to the former Debbie Tedesco. Wainwright has two sons, Brett and Scott
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