Green Bay has hired sports media personality Doug Gottlieb as its next men's basketball coach, it was announced Tuesday.
Gottlieb was one of the final candidates for Green Bay's vacancy last spring, but the job ultimately went to Sundance Wicks. After leading the Phoenix to an 18-14 campaign, Wicks left the program to become the head coach at Wyoming.
Athletic director Josh Moon was quick to name Gottlieb as Wicks' replacement. An introductory press conference is scheduled for Wednesday.
“It is an honor beyond measure to be named the 10th men's basketball coach in UWGB history,” Gottlieb said in a statement. “Every kid has a dream growing up: some want to be firefighters, some want to be president. I always wanted to be a head basketball coach at the Division I level.”
Gottlieb has no college coaching experience, but was on Team USA's staff at the 2009 and 2017 Maccabiah Games. He was an assistant to Bruce Pearl in 2009 and was head coach in 2017. Gottlieb also interviewed for the coaching position. Oklahoma State when the school hired Mike Boynton, and he was a consultant for the Cowboys program last season.
“Coach Gottlieb's energy and passion for the game, his desire to mentor our student-athletes and his trust in the people of this region make him an excellent choice to continue our momentum,” said UWGB Chancellor , Mike Alexander, in a statement.
Gottlieb, a media personality since 2002 for ESPN, CBS and Fox Sports, was a standout point guard at Oklahoma State during his playing days. He still ranks in the top 15 all-time among career assists leaders.
His college career began at Notre Dame, but he left school after an incident in which he stole credit cards from three classmates.
Gottlieb is a Milwaukee native whose late father, Bob, was Milwaukee's head coach from 1975-1980.
“As a child who was born at Columbia Hospital and a father who was also a head coach in the University of Washington system, it is even more amazing to have this opportunity to return to Wisconsin and live my dreams,” Gottlieb said.
He will reportedly continue hosting his Fox Sports radio show while coaching Green Bay.
