Mike Winiecki named Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach

by CU Athletic Communications - Thu Apr 22 08:19:16 GMT-04:00 2010

CLEMSON, SC – Mike Winiecki has been named an assistant coach for the men’s basketball program. Head Coach Brad Brownell made the announcement Thursday. Winiecki comes to Clemson from Wright State, where he was an assistant coach under Brownell from 2007-10. He will primarily be in charge of instructing Clemson’s post players.

“Mike and I have known each other for many years,” Brownell said. “We worked together at UNC Wilmington and Wright State. He’s a tremendous coach, especially for post players. I know that our post players are really looking forward to working with him. He was an excellent player in college. He has great experience in the business. He will help us in recruiting the mid-Atlantic region. He’s a guy who really knows basketball. I think very highly of him.”

Winiecki is a familiar name from the Brownell coaching tree. He brings 18 years of coaching experience at the Division I level with him to Clemson. He served as an assistant coach alongside Brownell under Jerry Wainwright at UNC Wilmington from 1998-2002. During that four-year stretch, Winiecki helped the Seahawks to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of Colonial Athletic Association championships (2000, 2002).

Winiecki spent each of the past three seasons with Brownell at Wright State. In three years with the Raiders’ program, Winiecki helped the school to an 84-45 overall record. Wright State finished each of the last three regular seasons with a 12-6 record in the Horizon League.

“You can’t imagine how excited I am at this wonderful opportunity,” Winiecki said. “I’ve known Coach Brownell for the better part of 15 years, and I’m excited to be part of his staff at Clemson. This is a wonderful program and university. We hope to build on the success Clemson has had in recent years. I look forward to working with our big guys. There’s a lot of talent there, and we hope to bring it out in each of them.”

A native of Richmond, VA and graduate of the University of Richmond, Winiecki coached at his alma mater on three separate occasions. His first job was as a graduate assistant in 1992-93 under Dick Tarrant. After spending a year overseas playing in Portugal, Winiecki returned to Richmond in 1994 for three seasons as an assistant coach to Bill Dooley. Prior to his stint with UNC Wilmington, Winiecki spent two years as an assistant coach at Campbell (1996-98) before returning to coach his alma mater from 2002-05. He also was an assistant coach for two seasons at Boston University (2005-07).

Winiecki enjoyed a standout collegiate career with the Spider basketball program. He was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams (1986, 1988) and was an All-Colonial selection in 1988-89 after averaging 17.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He finished his career with 1,031 points and helped Richmond’s 1988 team to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 13 seed. Winiecki and his teammates defeated fourth-seeded Indiana and fifth-seeded Georgia Tech in the “Big Dance” that year.

A native of Buffalo, NY, Winiecki graduated from Monacan High School in Richmond, where he earned All-State honors as a senior after averaging 23.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.