Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wayne State College director of athletics Eric Schoh announced today that Paul Combs has been named the new head men’s basketball coach at Wayne State College. Combs becomes the 25th men’s basketball coach in the program’s 96-year history and brings 10 years of head coaching experience and 15 years of overall coaching experience to the Wildcat men’s basketball program. Combs will begin his duties at Wayne State College on June 1.
“We are extremely pleased to have Paul Combs and his family being a part of the Wildcat athletic family,” said WSC athletic director Eric Schoh. “He’s a proven coach and winner and we are fortunate to get a coach of his caliber. It’s an exciting day for Wildcat basketball.”
Combs comes to Wayne State after serving six seasons as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He guided the Pioneers to a 104-55 record, including a 23-6 mark this past season that saw UW-Platteville reach the NCAA Division III National Tournament. It was the first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance for the school since Bo Ryan, the current head coach at Wisconsin, coached the Pioneers to the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1998-99. This past season, Combs coached Wisconsin-Platteville to an 84-79 win at Division I Bradley and earned the school’s first number one national ranking since 1999. His overall head coaching record is 163-101 in 10 years as a head coach.
Prior to his six years as head coach at Wisconsin-Platteville, the 38-year-old Combs resurrected a once-struggling program at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin where he posted a 60-45 in four years after he inherited a program that won just 20 games in the three years before Combs arrived. Before Lakeland, Combs served as an assistant coach at Ripon College in Wisconsin, helping his alma mater to a 102-21 record with four NCAA Division III tournament appearances in his five years. Combs achieved his bachelor’s degree in business management from Ripon in 1993 where he was a point guard and captain of a team that was nationally-ranked in 1992-93.
“My family and I feel fortunate to be a part of the Wayne State College campus and community of Wayne,” stated Combs. “I’m humbled to be part of a great tradition in both athletics and academics at Wayne State. The most impressive part of the interview process was the people I met and now get to work with. And the community support is tremendous.” Combs added, “I’m eager to get started, understanding we have a lot of work to do. I look forward to building on the great tradition of Wildcat basketball.”
Combs replaces Rico Burkett, who served as head coach for nine seasons at Wayne State and posted a 111-138 overall record and a 75-79 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Wayne State College is an NCAA Division II school located in Wayne, Nebraska and competes in the 14-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Paul Combs Coaching Resume:
Head Coach Wisconsin-Platteville 6 seasons (2003-09) 104-55 record
Head Coach Lakeland (Wisc.) College 4 seasons (1999-2003) 60-45 record
Assistant Coach Ripon (Wisc.) College 5 seasons (1993-98) 102-21 record