Aug. 20, 2004
University of Dayton men's basketball coach Brian Gregory has announced that Dave Wojcik has joined the Flyer basketball coaching staff. Wojcik replaces Mo Cassara, who is now the head coach at Clark University.
Wojcik, 35, has moved up the coaching ladder with assistant coaching stints at James Madison, Loyola (MD), Xavier and the U.S. Naval Academy. He coached last season at Navy under Don DeVoe.
"I'm extremely excited that Dave is joining our staff," Gregory said. "He has extensive experience in all aspects of coaching. I feel very fortunate to be able to add someone of his caliber to our program. As an assistant, he's worked with some of the best in the business-Skip Prosser, Lefty Driesell and Don DeVoe-and he's also proven himself on his own. He's been a part of winning programs throughout his basketball career."
A McDonald's Honorable Mention High School All-American, Wojcik played point guard for Wheeling (West Virginia) Central Catholic High School, leading his teams to three consecutive appearances in the West Virginia State Championship game. He led them to the 1987 West Virginia AA State Championship. Wojcik was coached in his first two high school seasons by Skip Prosser, and his last two seasons by Dino Gaudio.
Wojcik then played his college basketball at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the only player in school history to record a triple-double (14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against St. Francis on February 4, 1989).
He began his collegiate coaching career in 1991-92 under the legendary Lefty Driesell at James Madison University. In his only year on the staff, the Dukes finished 21-11, won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season championship and played in the NIT.
Wojcik spent the 1992-93 season as an assistant at West Liberty State College. He then returned to Loyola where he coached for one season under Prosser. Loyola won the Metro Atlantic Conference title and then made the school's first NCAA tournament appearance in history during the 1994 campaign.
Wojcik followed Prosser to Xavier from 1994 to 1997, and then returned to Loyola as an assistant for four years on Gaudio's staff. When Gaudio joined Prosser's staff at Wake Forest, Wojcik returned to his hometown and became the athletic director and head basketball coach at Wheeling Central Catholic.
He coached Central Catholic Maroon Knights to back-to-back state championships (2002 and 2003) before joining DeVoe's staff at Navy for last season.
"I know what Dayton basketball is all about, having been at Xavier as an assistant coach" Wojcik said. "It's a priority here. It means something. The University and the `Flyer Faithful' are passionate about it. Working for Brian and having the opportunity to work on a staff with Billy (Schmidt), Mike (Jackson) and John (Borovich) is an exciting situation for me. It's a high-energy staff, and I like to think I'm that kind of coach too. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with them at UD."
Wojcik and his wife Heather have a four-year-old son, Jake.
Dave Wojcik's brother Doug was a star point guard at the Naval Academy from 1984-87. The elder Wojcik and Flyer head coach Brian Gregory were teammates at the Academy in the 1985-86 season. Ironically, when Gregory was named head coach at Dayton, Doug Wojcik left North Carolina to succeed Gregory as Michigan State's Associate Head Coach.
Gregory guided the Flyers to a 24-9 record in 2003-04, UD won the 2003 EA Sports Maui Invitational championship, defeating hometown favorite Hawai'i in the finals. Gregory was the first coach to win the tournament in his first season as head coach. UD was the 2004 Atlantic 10 West Division champion and made back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time since 1984-85.
