Ben Wierzba, who spent the past three seasons on Marty Simmons' staff at the University of Evansville, was named the head basketball coach at Illinois-Springfield on Thursday.
The opening came about after Kevin Gamble resigned at the end of June to take an assistant job at Providence College. Gamble, a former NBA player, started the Springfield program and compiled a 130-79 record in nine seasons. The Prairie Stars were 11-13 and 7-11 last season in their first season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
"Growing up in a coaching household, it's been a dream of mine to be a head coach for a long time," said Wierzba. "Illinois-Springfield has helped me get to that goal and I'm just very thankful to these people.
Wierzba was featured in a September 10, 2010, article in the Evansville Courier & Press.
Download a PDF of the article
