According to the university, first-year Marquette men's basketball coach Steve Wojciechowski made two more hires for his coaching staff this week in Justin Gainey and Brett Nelson.
Wojciechowski had previously hired Chris Carrawell and Mark Phelps.
Gainey comes to Milwaukee by way of Appalachian State, and assumes the role of Director of Basketball Operations. Wojciechowski became familiar with him on the court first, as Gainey competed against "Wojo" in the Atlantic Coast Conference while at North Carolina State University.
The two are also connected by way of the Jason and Jeff Capel. Jason Capel is the head coach at Appalachian State and is Jeff's brother, who played with Wojciechowski at Duke and later worked alongside him on Mike Krzyzewski's staff in Durham.
In a statement, Wojciechowski said "I have obviously been able to keep close tabs on Justin’s career both as a player and a coach and am extremely happy to be able to add him to the staff at Marquette. He is in possession of nearly a decade of experience in the collegiate ranks and knows what it takes to compete at the highest level having played at NC State."
Nelson was plucked off the staff at Ball State University, where he served as an associate head coach. He had previously coached at Drake University under Phelps, and has proven to be an excellent recruiter at those universities, as well as at Arkansas and Marshall.
Nelson played under Billy Donovan in Florida and won a national title in 2000.
"Brett’s career to this point as a player and a coach speaks for itself," Wojciechowski said in a statement. "He has had the opportunity to both play for, and work with, coaching staffs for which I have a tremendous amount of respect."
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
