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Jerry Wainwright
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Lamar Butler |
Dave Corzine
Gary DeCesare |
Tom Kleinschmidt | Craig Shaman
Barron
Thelmon |
Scott Wainwright |
Ramon Williams
 One
of the nation’s most respected coaches, both on and off
the playing floor, Jerry Wainwright enters his 15th
season as a NCAA Division I head coach and his fourth at
DePaul. During his collegiate tenure, Wainwright has
taken his teams to seven postseason tournaments
including three NCAA berths and four NIT appearances.
Last season, his third in Lincoln Park, Wainwright
helped engineer the program’s best start ever in
conference play and for the third straight season in his
tenure with the Blue Demons, DePaul posted at least one
victory over a Top 25 team. The schedule featured 17
games against post season teams (13 NCAA including
eventual national champion Kansas), and individually,
Draelon Burns was named second team All-BIG EAST
Conference while Mac Koshwal and Dar Tucker were honored
on the league’s All-Rookie team. Cliff Clinkscales also
led the nation in assist/turnover ratio.
This past August, Wainwright took part in “Operation
Hardwood - Hoops with the Troops,” a USO armed forces
entertainment tour. The tour was conducted in Kuwait and
Iraq and Wainwright spent nine days visiting and working
with American servicemen and women serving in the
Operation Freedom combat theatre.
In the summer of 2007, Wainwright served his nation as
he was the head coach for the FIBA Americas U19
Championship For Men Team in Serbia. Boasting a team
that included future NBA draft picks Michael Beasley and
Donte Greene, Wainwright led the squad to the silver
medal, the country’s first medal in that tournament
since 1999.
During the 2006-07 season Wainwright reached a career
milestone, recording his 200th win as a head coach at
the NCAA Division I level in a 93-74 victory over
Chaminade at the EA Sports Maui Invitational on November
21, 2006.
Wainwright’s second season (2006-07) at DePaul was
filled with improvement throughout the season and
exciting wins. Facing a schedule that featured 17 games
against postseason teams including 11 NCAA Tournament
opponents, the Blue Demons won 20 times and posted nine
BIG EAST victories. DePaul also beat three teams ranked
in the top 25 on the date of their game, including
fifth-ranked Kansas, which was the program’s first win
over a top five team since 1999.
The 2006-07 squad earned a bid to the NIT and made the
program’s deepest postseason tournament run since 1990,
reaching the quarterfinals after thrilling wins over
Hofstra and at Kansas State. Individually, Sammy Mejia
and Wilson Chandler were both named second team All-BIG
EAST Conference while Burns was on the honorable mention
list. Both Chandler (first round) and Mejia (second
round) were picked during the annual NBA Draft.
His first season at the helm of the Blue Demons in
2005-06 saw Wainwright inherit the youngest DePaul squad
in seven years and he steered it through the
eighth-toughest schedule (according to Basketball Times)
in the nation, including the program’s initial season as
a member of the rugged BIG EAST Conference.
Highlighting his rookie campaign with the Blue Demons
were victories at then-No. 16 Wake Forest (snapping the
Demon Deacons’ 21-game home winning streak), NCAA
Tournament participants UAB, California, Seton Hall and
Syracuse along with postseason participants Notre Dame
and Creighton. The Blue Demons played 18 games against
teams that reached postseason tournaments including 11
against NCAA Tournament squads.
Individually, Chandler was named a unanimous selection
to the BIG EAST All-Rookie team while Mejia was twice
named to the league’s honor roll.
Another highlight of Wainwright’s first season with the
Blue Demons came in June when he was selected to serve
as an assistant coach for USA Basketball’s 2006 FIBA
Americas U18 Championship For Men Team. Along with Head
Coach Lorenzo Romar (Washington) and fellow Assistant
Coach Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech), the trio helped the
U.S. squad breeze through the tournament and qualify for
the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship which Wainwright
would coach a year later.
Wainwright signed on with the Blue Demons after 11
successful seasons as a head coach, including the three
years at Richmond and eight at UNC Wilmington.
Wainwright left his mark during his three seasons at
Richmond, establishing the Spiders on the national stage
as several team and individual accomplishments
highlighted his tenure with the Atlantic 10 school.
In 2003-04 Wainwright brought Richmond to the NCAA
Tournament, earning the program’s second-ever at-large
berth behind the nation’s ninth-ranked defense. Along
with the NCAA berth, a win at 10th-ranked Kansas
sandwiched between road victories at Temple and Xavier
were milestones of the season. After a spirited run
through the A-10 Tournament, Wainwright’s crew was
rewarded for its tough schedule with an NCAA berth. The
Spiders fell to Wisconsin, 76-64, in the opening round
at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
In Wainwright’s first season with the Spiders he used a
nationally-ranked defense to post 16 wins and a berth to
the NIT, where they fell at Providence in the opening
round.
Prior to taking the reigns at Richmond, Wainwright
enjoyed a highly successful eight-year run as the head
coach at UNC Wilmington.
Wainwright compiled a 136-103 record during his time in
Wilmington, and he piloted the Seahawks to a pair of
NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT berths.
The program reached unprecedented heights during
Wainwright’s tenure as he guided the Seahawks to their
first post-season berth, first 20-win season (1997-98)
and their first win in the NCAA Tournament, a 93-89
triumph over Southern California in Sacramento during
the 2000 “Big Dance.”
His resume at Wilmington also included the program
capturing three Colonial Athletic Association regular
season titles and two CAA tournament crowns. The
Seahawks averaged nearly 17 wins per season under his
tutelage and were ranked nationally in team defense each
of his eight campaigns.
A year after taking over the UNCW program in 1994,
Wainwright built the seventh-best schedule in the
country. The Seahawks’ suffocating defense was ranked
fifth in the nation in 1995-96, allowing just 58.4
points per game.
Wainwright orchestrated one of the most memorable
campaigns in UNCW history during the 1999-00 season when
the Seahawks grabbed their first CAA Championship and
advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in
the history of the program.
In 2000-01, Wainwright earned CAA Coach of the Year
honors for the second time.
The Seahawks posted their most impressive season ever in
2001-02, compiling a 22-9 mark, capturing the conference
crown outright for the second straight season and
advancing to their second NCAA Tournament. Wainwright’s
team finished among the nation’s best in team defense,
ranking 17th in the country.
Wainwright has touched every step on the coaching ladder
during his run to the head job at DePaul.
Prior to arriving at Wilmington, Wainwright spent nine
seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest under both
Bob Staak (1986-89) and Dave Odom (1989-94). Wainwright
helped build the Demon Deacons’ program into a
consistent national power.
While in Winston-Salem, Wainwright helped Wake Forest
make a school-record four straight NCAA Tournament
berths and register back-to-back 20-win seasons for the
first time in a decade. Besides on-the-court coaching,
he assisted in recruiting NBA draft picks Chris King
(Seattle), Rodney Rogers (Denver), Randolph Childress
(Detroit) and Tim Duncan (San Antonio).
Wainwright broke into the college coaching ranks in
1984-85, serving a one-year stint at Xavier under Staak
before moving to Wake Forest when Staak took the Demon
Deacon head job.
Wainwright began his coaching career in the prep ranks
at Montrose High School in Denver where he led his team
to the state tournament and was named Colorado District
Coach of the Year in 1974-75.
He then returned to his home state, serving as an
assistant coach at East Leyden High School in suburban
Franklin Park, Ill. In his four seasons with the Eagles,
Wainwright helped them compile a 104-4 record.
Wainwright would then go on to serve as the head coach
at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill.,
directing the program to the state’s “Sweet 16” in
1981-82. He was twice named the district
Coach-of-the-Year while coaching the Giants.
A 1968 graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs,
Colo., Wainwright earned his graduate degree from the
University of Denver in 1971.
A native of Berwyn, Ill., Wainwright is married to the
former Debbie Tedesco. Jerry has two sons, Brett and
Scott. In addition, he has three grandchildren, Alexis,
Brett and Gracie.
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