Keil Ganz

MARQUETTE — A little more than a month after being named men’s head basketball coach at Northern Michigan University, Matt Majkrzak has started to fill out his staff.

On Wednesday, Majkrzak named St. Norbert College assistant coach Keil Ganz as his new assistant. Ganz spent three years as a coach and recruiting coordinator with the Green Knights. During that span, St. Norbert finished 57-20 with two Midwest Conference regular season championships in NCAA Division III, along with six all-MWC players.

At one point during the 2016-17 season, SNC was ranked as high as fourth in the nation.

Before coming to SNC, he was head coach at Kewaunee (Wisconsin) High School where he was a 2014 conference coach of the year. His first year as coach included a 12-game winning streak and a second-place finish in its conference.

Ganz served as a coach for the AAU Wisconsin Jets/Wisconsin Shooters Grassroots program from 2011-17 and led the team to multiple titles. Thirty-one of his players moved on to NCAA programs and others earned spots on NAIA teams or other college sports.

Ganz got his start as a coach as a student assistant at NCAA Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay. He was in charge of the matchup board during games and worked with coaches on matchups, strategies and communication with the players. Ganz also did film projects and helped with recruiting and administrative responsibilities.

He already had a connection to NMU as his sister- in-law, Kalin Zimmerman, was a volleyball player from 2011-13 for the Wildcats.

NMU opens its season on Nov. 9 with the GLIAC/Great Lakes Valley Conference Challenge at McKendree University in Illinois. Northern plays its home and GLIAC opener on Dec. 5 against Northwood.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal. net.