Gary Grzesk who starred at UW Green Bay, won’t return to campus to coach the Phoenix men’s basketball team. The Head Coach at St. Norbert College has withdrawn his name from consideration as the school looks for a replacement for Linc Darner who was fired last month after five seasons on the job. Darner still had five years left on his contract at Green Bay but a $720,000.00 settlement was reached between the school and former coach.
In a statement released Monday, Grzesk said, “Although the position on head men’s basketball coach at my alma mater seems like a natural fit, the time on many levels is not right for me. There are a number of complex factors that went into this very difficult decision.”
Among those factors are the fact his son is about to graduate from high school and Grzesk may want the opportunity to coach him as a collegian and he wants to continue a very successful run he’s had with the Green Knights program. Grzesk will return for his 15th season at the school.
Meanwhile the coaching search is expected to continue in earnest this week with Green Bay Athletic Director Charles Guthrie beginning the process of conducting virtual interviews. Among the expected 6-8 candidates on his list are former Green Bay player Ben Johnson, now an assistant at Portland, Jimmy Foster, an assistant on Brian Wardle’s staff at Bradley who also worked under Wardle during his tenure at Green Bay and University of Virginia assistant Brad Soderberg, currently working with former Phoenix star Tony Bennett and a former University of Wisconsin assistant.
