Gary Grzesk

Grzesk pulls out of running for Green Bay men’s basketball job

June 1, 2020 By Bill Scott

Gary Grzesk

St. Norbert college men’s basketball coach Gary Grzesk says he has pulled out of the running to be the next men’s basketball coach at his alma mater, UW-Green Bay.

In a statement on his Twitter account, Grzesk made the following statement:

“Although the position of head men’s basketball coach at my alma mater seems like a natural fit, the timing (on many different levels) is not right for me. I am withdrawing from consideration for the position. There are a number of complex factors that went into this very difficult decision. I’d like to thank St. Norbert, President Bruess, Tim Bald, and my staff for their support throughout this process. We have a good group of returning players and a potentially strong incoming class that I’m looking forward to coaching. I wish the men’s basketball program and the next head coach nothing but success.”

The Green Bay Phoenix job opened up when the school decided to part company with Linc Darner, who had six years left on his contract.

Grzesk named M-W-C Coach of the Year

February 25, 2016 By Bill Scott

Gary Grzesk

St. Norbert College men’s basketball coach Gary Grzesk has been named the Midwest Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season, becoming the first coach in league history to accomplish the feat. It is Grzesk’s fifth overall MWC Coach of the Year award.

St. Norbert College enters the MWC Tournament 21-2 overall and ranked No. 8 in the D3hoops.com Top 25. They finished the regular season unbeaten in MWC play at 18-0 for the third straight year. St. Norbert has won 62 consecutive games against Midwest Conference opponents.

Green Knights sophomore guard D.J. DeValk and junior guard Terrence Garner also received All-Midwest Conference honors.

DeValk was a first-team All-MWC selection while Garner was named to the second-team.

DeValk, from Little Chute, is averaging 15.3 points a game and has made a team-high 50 three-point field goals. He is shooting 85.7-percent from the free-throw line. DeValk’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.08 is currently 13th-best in NCAA Division III.

Garner, from Oak Creek, is averaging 10.9 points a game as well as a team-high 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Garner is shooting 53.7-percent from the floor this season.

St. Norbert College sets consecutive victory record

February 21, 2016 By Bill Scott

Gary Grzesk

St. Norbert College set a record for consecutive wins against conference opponents by a NCAA Division III school when it won for the 62nd-straight time against a Midwest Conference opponent with a 72-62 win over Cornell College.

The Green Knights (21-2, 18-0 MWC) surpassed the previous record of 61, held since the late 1950’s by Wheaton (Ill.) College in College Conference of Illinois play. St. Norbert has not lost against a MWC foe since a 104-99 overtime loss on Feb. 9, 2013 at Grinnell College.

St. Norbert also finished 18-0 in the Midwest Conference’s regular season for the third consecutive year, the only three times in the 95-year history of the league a men’s basketball team has won 18 games in conference play. [Read more…]

Green Bay adds Darner as the school’s 7th head coach (AUDIO)

April 15, 2015 By Bill Scott

Green Bay head coach Linc Darner

Florida Southern coach Linc Darner was a front-runner for the Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball coaching position from the very beginning. Green Bay athletic director Mary Ellen Gillespie said what set Darner apart from the rest of the coaching candidate pool was his total presentation.

Gillespie said, “His years of head coaching experience, his winning programs at every stop, the x’s and o’s, how he runs a program, how he interacts with parents, donors and fans, how he mentors and guides young men and how he works with colleagues across campus.”

Gillespie offered the job to Darner on Tuesday and he accepted. He was introduced at a news conference this morning. The reason for the 1-day delay? Darner thought it was most appropriate that he return to Florida to tell his players that he would be leaving for his dream of coaching Division 1 college basketball. It’s another quality trait that Darner possesses, insuring Gillespie that she picked the right man for the job. [Read more…]

St. Norbert falls in Triple OT in NCAA D-3 Tournament opener (Audio)

March 7, 2015 By Bill Scott

St. Norbert coach Gary Grzesk

When NW-St. Paul upset 3rd-ranked St. Thomas in the first NCAA D-3 Regional semifinal, things appeared to be stacking up for host (5) St. Norbert College to potentially make a nice post season run. What the Green Knights didn’t count on was another upset in the second semifinal.

Unranked Elmhurst (Ill) College beat St. Norbert College 110-98 in triple overtime, which means the Green Knights still haven’t gone beyond the second round of the tournament. The Bluejays extended play with big baskets at the end of regulation, then again in the first two overtimes.

Elmhurst junior guard Kyle Wuest scored a career-high 32 points to send Elmhurst (20-7) into the regional final Saturday night against the University of Northwestern-Saint Paul.

St. Norbert senior center Steven Hofacker had 21 points before fouling out to lead the Green Knights. Sophomore guard Ben Bobinski added 16 points off the bench.

The Green Knights saw their season come to an end at 25-2.

AUDIO: St. Norbert coach Gary Grzesk post game 3:26

Division 3 results

Defiance 83, UW-Whitewater 71
UW-Stevens Point 88, Concordia 66

Division 3 women’s results

UW-Oshkosh 87, North Central (Ill.) 82
Wisconsin Lutheran 70, Wheaton (Ill.) 67
Luther College 72, St. Norbert College 61

St. Norbert College extends conference win streak

January 28, 2015 By Bill Scott

St. Norbert coach Gary Grzesk

The St. Norbert College men’s basketball team continued its run at another Midwest Conference men’s basketball title, knocking off Ripon College 85-65 in De Pere on Tuesday night.

Andrew Schwoerer scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the 14th ranked Green Knights, who won their 36th straight regular season Midwest Conference game.

The Knights (16-1, 12-0 MWC) hit 22 of their first 29 FG’s (75.9%) in the game.

Ty Sabin had 35 points to lead all-scorers for Ripon College (11-6, 8-4).

Elsewhere in the Midwest Conference on Tuesday night,

Beloit 54, Carroll 51
Lake Forest 78, Lawrence 60

St. Norbert’s Grzesk named Jack Bennett Award winner

April 4, 2014 By Bill Scott

St. Norbert College men’s basketball coach Gary Grzesk was named the winner of the 2014 Jack Bennett Award, which is presented by

Gary Grzesk

CollegeInsider.com at its annual awards banquet in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.

The Jack Bennett Award, which represents winning with integrity, is named in honor of the retired UW-Stevens Point coach won NCAA Division III national titles in 2004 and 2005.

Grzesk led St. Norbert to a school-best 25-2 record in 2013-14, with the Green Knights claiming their fourth Midwest Conference title in five years at a perfect 18-0. The Green Knights advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament before falling to eventual Final Four qualifier Illinois-Wesleyan.

Grzesk is 145-56 in eight seasons at St. Norbert College.