John Francis Wetzel (born October 22, 1944) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. A 6'5" guard, he played collegiately at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

and was selected by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in the 8th round of the 1966 NBA draft. Over a seven-year career, Wetzel played for three teams: the Lakers, the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, and the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. He later coached the Suns during the 1987-88 NBA season. He served as an assistant for several other teams, retiring from basketball in 2004. Wetzel currently splits time in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

and

Maui, Hawaii The island of Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th largest island in the United S ...

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: John Wetzel (as player)

1944 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Virginia Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players People from Waynesboro, Virginia Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Phoenix Suns expansion draft picks Phoenix Suns head coaches Phoenix Suns players Shooting guards Small forwards Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball players Western Basketball Association coaches {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub