Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
Canisius head men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon announced Tuesday that Thurman Shaetzle will be joining his coaching staff for the 2018-19 season.
Shaetzle, who served as a graduate assistant manager with the Golden Griffins during the 2016-17 campaign and spent the 2017-18 basketball season as a varsity assistant coach with the boy’s basketball team at Highlands High School in Natrona Heights, Pa., replaces Larry Blunt, who left for an assistant coaching position at Drake in the spring.
“I am very happy and excited that Thurman is available to rejoin our staff here at Canisius,” Witherspoon said. “Thurman worked extremely hard when he was here in 2016-17 and helped us get things started. His passion for the game and his work ethic will be great assets to our staff and our program moving forward.”
During the 2016-17 season, Shaetzle handled a number of responsibilities for Witherspoon and the Griffs’ coaching staff, which included game film breakdown and opponent scouting, academic oversight and working with the team’s post players. Prior to joining the Canisius staff, the Erie, Pa., native spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Gannon University, where he helped lead the Golden Knights to a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West championships, a PSAC Conference Tournament crown in 2015 and back-to-back NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015. While on staff at Gannon, Shaetzle had the chance to work with a Division II All-American, as well as multiple all-region and all-conference honorees.
“I am really excited to be able to come back and rejoin coach Witherspoon and the staff at Canisius,” Shaetzle said. “This is a great opportunity to develop young men while coaching and recruiting to the standard of excellence that reflect Canisius College and coach Witherspoon, himself.”
Coaching is in Shaetzle’s blood, as his father, Marty, is about to start his 18th season as the head football coach at Mercyhurst. Additionally, his wife, Hayley, is currently the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Shaetzle earned his undergraduate degree in history from Mercyhurst in 2011, where he was a four-year letter winner on the Lakers’ baseball team, and he graduated from Canisius in 2017 with his master’s degree in sport administration.
Canisius went 21-12 overall and 15-3 in MAAC action last season, the program’s ninth 20-win campaign in school history. The 15 conference victories set a new school record and helped the Blue and Gold earn a share of the 2017-18 MAAC regular-season championship, the program’s first since 1993-94.
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