Jerry Hobbie and Kreigh Warkentien confirmed additions to Washington Basketball staff

Washington Basketball head coach Mike Hopkins continues to tweak his coaching staff as the team confirmed hiring coach Jerry Hobbie and Kreigh Warkentien

The Washington Basketball team has finally confirmed hiring coach Jerry Hobbie. Finally, in that the story surfaced in early June 2017, two months ago.  But from the moment the report became public, the news on Hobbie simply vanished. And so, it became a waiting game.

Now, the team has confirmed the hire, as well as the addition of Kreigh Warkentien.  This is great news for a program turning the corner in a positive manner.

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Warkentien is a solid add, as she worked with assistant coach David Rice for six years at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. There, she was the Director of Operations with additional oversight of Alumni Relations and Special Events. Now, she will place all of that experience to the benefit of the Washington Basketball team in the role of Chief Adminstrative Officer.  This role will be responsible for travel, budget, alumni management and much of the support services required to keep the team on an even keel.

Hobbie is a huge pick up

Jerry Hobbie, as we had reported earlier, will continue in the trek to special assistant to the head coach.   What does that entail?

Hobbie is good folks. I loved his track record in recruiting with Southern Methodist University. But he brings so much more to the table.

Here is what I said in the previous article:

"“Jerry Hobbie finished seven seasons at SMU. And he was the SMU Director of Recruiting. He was an assistant coach in 2015-16 after serving as Special Assistant to the Head Coach (2013-15). He was also the Director of Basketball Operations (2012-13) after an earlier stint as assistant coach (2010-12). But the bottom line is that Jerry Hobbie can recruit.”"

Recruiting boost

NCAA Basketball is about four things:

I – Coaching the team up
II- Developing players to their fullest potential
III- Scheming plays to defeat opponents
IV – Recruiting new players

While this holds true for every coaching staff, some are simply better in some aspects than others. To date, the Huskies have reloaded the class of 2017 to a level of optimism for the upcoming basketball season.

Next: Former Washington Basketball star Tony Wroten founded Trust the Process, because he does

The official team article about the hires can be found here.  This is a solid coaching staff now, and all points of NCAA basketball coaching are addressed.  But can the team turn the corner? From what I have seen in the team’s recruiting, hires, and training methods, I’m actually very optimistic.