Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Basketball 7/5/2022 8:26:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Men's Basketball Adds Will Vergollo as Assistant Coach

DETROIT -- Wayne State University first-year head men's basketball coach Bryan Smothers has announced the addition of Will Vergollo as an assistant coach.

"My family and I are excited to come back home to be a part of the Wayne State community," commented Vergollo. "Growing up in Southeast Michigan, I have a great appreciation and respect for Wayne State University and the rich tradition of the men's basketball program. I look forward to working tirelessly with our student-athletes as we strive to achieve at the highest levels on and off the court. Thank you to a coach Smothers for giving my family and I the opportunity to be a part of something special. Go Warriors."

"I am thrilled to welcome Will, his wife Alyssa and their family back to Michigan and to our men's basketball program here at Wayne State," said Smothers. "Will is a friend, and also one of the brightest basketball minds I've had the opportunity to work with. He makes our program better and will do a great job for us in many ways."

Vergollo had been on a part of the Butler staff since the 2017-18 season. A majority of his time on the BU staff was serving as the program's basketball analyst. Vergollo spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach in an interim capacity. Including a season at Milwaukee, Vergollo was on LaVall Jordan's staff in each of his seasons as a head coach. In his analyst role for Butler, Vergollo oversaw video operations and analytics, while assisting with preparation of scouting reports. In his first season as a member of the Butler coaching staff, the 2017-18 Bulldogs posted a 21-14 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where Butler defeated Arkansas in the opening round. The Bulldogs followed that with a 2019 NIT berth.

The 2019-20 Bulldogs finished the season 22-9 and ranked in the Top 25 of both national polls. The Bulldogs were included in every 2020 NCAA Tournament projection before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the season. Vergollo arrived at Butler with LaVall Jordan prior to the 2017-18 season after being part of Jordan's staff at Milwaukee as an assistant coach. In his one season with the Panthers (2016-17), Milwaukee advanced to the Horizon League Tournament championship game. Milwaukee entered the postseason as the tournament's No. 10 seed before making a miraculous run through the bracket. Milwaukee's staff inherited only four returning scholarship players when they took over the Panthers' program in April of 2016.

At Milwaukee, Vergollo was involved in all aspects of the program, including scouting, player development, and recruiting. Prior to Milwaukee, Vergollo spent three years as the video analyst at Michigan. Vergollo managed and assisted the entire basketball staff with the video operations for the program. He headed up the analytics program and assisted with preparation of scouting reports. In addition, Vergollo was the Michigan Basketball Camps director. During his three seasons (2013-16) on the Wolverines' staff, the program reached the NCAA Tournament twice, including a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2014.

Vergollo was an assistant coach under first-year head coach Patrick Beilein at West Virginia Wesleyan in 2012-13. Prior to his time at West Virginia Wesleyan, Vergollo had spent six years with the Wolverine basketball program. He spent two years as Michigan's graduate manager (2010-12), earning his master's degree in higher education administration and leadership in 2012. Before his graduate work, he spent four years (2006-10) as a student manager, including the last two as the head manager.

Vergollo, who graduated from Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, completed his bachelor's degree in sports management from Michigan in 2010.

He and his wife, Alyssa, have a daughter, Ella, and a son, Dominic.

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