NU assistant Spinelli takes job at Wichita State
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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Scott Spinelli, associate head men’s basketball coach at Nebraska, has accepted a similar position on Mark Turgeon’s staff at Wichita State.
That news came late Wednesday night, according to two anonymous sources with close ties to the situation.
Spinelli, who just finished his third season with the Huskers, did not return a message left on his cell phone. Head coach Barry Collier was out of town and unavailable for comment. The Journal Star also could not reach executive associate athletic director Marc Boehm, who has administrative oversight of men’s basketball.
Spinelli, who interviewed for at least two head coaching positions earlier this month, is regarded as Nebraska’s top recruiter.
He was the key contact in the recruiting of Joe McCray, a member of the All-Big 12 Conference freshman team in 2005; Jamel White, who earned similar recognition in 2006; and Aleks Maric, a sophomore center named to the league’s All-Improved team.
The position at Wichita State came open when the Shockers’ associate head coach, Tad Boyle, accepted an offer to take over the program at Northern Colorado. Boyle, a Greeley, Colo., native, will be introduced at a news conference Friday.
He and Turgeon, teammates at Kansas, spent six years building Wichita State into the 2006 Missouri Valley Conference champions and an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team.
Spinelli was promoted to NU’s associate head coach last summer. He came to Nebraska after two seasons at Loyola University in Chicago. In the fall of 2002, he was named by CollegeInsider.com as one of the top 10 assistant coaches in the country.
Before going to Loyola, Spinelli spent one year as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, was an assistant for Cincinnati of the International Basketball League in 1999-2000 and was associate head coach at American University from 1997-99. His first collegiate job was at Wyoming in 1996-97.
A native of Leominster, Mass., Spinelli walked on at Boston University and eventually earned a scholarship playing point guard for Mike Jarvis.
He and his wife, Lynn, have three children, Gianna, Gabriel and Joseph.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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