Bob Wenzel (born October 4, 1949) is a former American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and broadcaster for the Big Ten Network,

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and

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Biography

College playing/Coaching career

Wenzel graduated from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in 1971 with a degree in history, and headed to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

for his graduate work. In 1973, he earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in education from Utah. While at Utah, Wenzel began his coaching career as a graduate assistant. Upon graduation he moved back east and became an assistant coach at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, staying there for one season. He moved on to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

in 1975, staying with the team through 1980 and playing an important role in the team's run to the 1978 Final Four. After one season as an assistant at

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Wenzel was hired by

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

as its head coach. In five years at Jacksonville (1982–1987), Wenzel led his team to an 88–86 overall record, including an NCAA tournament appearance in 1986 and an NIT appearance in his final year. During a 1985 home game against South Alabama, Wenzel suffered a near-fatal cerebral aneurysm. He recovered completely and returned to coach Jacksonville the following season. His return would earn him the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Most Courageous Award for 1986. Wenzel resigned to be an assistant with the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

for the 1987–88 NBA season, but returned to college the following year to be the head coach of his alma mater. Under Wenzel, Rutgers reached the NCAA tournament twice. The first of those appearances came in 1989, when the #13 seeded Scarlet Knights fell to Iowa in the first round. In 1991, Rutgers returned to the Big Dance as a #9 seed, but fared no better as they were defeated by Arizona State in the first round. Wenzel also led Rutgers to two NIT appearances. The first of those (1990) saw the Scarlet Knights advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament, falling to eventual third-place finisher Penn State. Rutgers returned to the tournament two years later, but lost a close second-round game to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The 1991–92 season marked the last time Rutgers would finish with a winning record under Wenzel. The team struggled for the next four seasons - with a move from the

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

to the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in 1995 not making things any easier - and after an 11–16 finish to the 1996–97 campaign, Wenzel was fired and replaced by Kevin Bannon. He has not coached since.

Broadcasting

Shortly after his firing by Rutgers, Wenzel jumped into broadcasting and was hired by ESPN as a color commentator for its college basketball coverage. Wenzel stayed with ESPN until 2013. He added commentary for CBS in 2001, and worked for them during the NCAA Championship from 2001 until 2012. Wenzel was hired as an analyst by the Big Ten Network in 2014.

Personal

Wenzel is currently the Associate Head of School for Advancement at

The Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. He and his wife, Neva, have three children and live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Wenzel was inducted into the

Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is an American sports hall of fame based in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The non-profit was established during 1990 to honor outstanding people, living or deceased, who have gained prominence and made s ...

on Long Island in the Basketball and Coaches Categories with the Class of 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenzel, Bob 1949 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City College basketball announcers in the United States College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball coaches New Jersey Nets assistant coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches Utah Utes men's basketball coaches Yale Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from the Bronx University of Utah alumni