July 22, 2010

Gardner Announces Coaching Staff Additions

MACON, Ga. – Newly-hired Mercer women's basketball coach Susie Gardner recently announced the addition of three assistant coaches. Rhet Wierzba, Tiffany Swoffard and Amy Jones have all signed on to help lead the Bears in the 2010-11 campaign.

 

Wierzba comes from the University of Maryland where he served as the women's basketball Director of Operations since May of 2007. During his time with the Terps, Wierzba handled day-to-day operations of the team, coordinated team travel, scheduled practice and served as a liaison to the Academic Support and Career Development office.

 

"Rhet left a tremendous job at Maryland because he was hungry to get on the floor," Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said. "He wants to coach and he's also one of the best people you'll ever meet. He's a great teacher of fundamentals and also brings a positive attitude to the program. I believe he has the ability to be a great coach."

 

Prior to his time at Maryland, Wierzba spent two seasons as the Director of Operations for the men's basketball program at Evansville University. After two years, he was named interim assistant coach in the spring of 2007 before taking the position at Maryland.

 

Gardner first met Wierzba during her time as head coach of the women's program at Austin Peay University.

 

Wierzba was a four-year player at Austin Peay, where he helped the Governors win back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference titles. A team captain for two years, he was named an OVC Scholar Athlete in his senior season. After graduating summa cum laude, Wierzba went on to play professionally in Mexico and Canada before returning to Austin Peay as a graduate assistant coach in 2004.

 

"Rhet was my favorite player on the men's team because he was a gym rat who worked his tail off," Garnder said. "I was always impressed with him as a human being and we stayed in touch after we had both left."

 

As a graduate assistant with his alma mater, Wierzba assisted with on-court player development, recruiting and helped plan team travel. In 2005, the Farmington, Ill. native completed his master's degree in science in health and human performance with a concentration in sports administration.

 

Like Wierzba, Garnder's relationship with Swoffard also dates back to their days with the Lady Governors.

 

Swoffard played under Gardner for four seasons at Austin Peay, including two consecutive seasons in which the Lady Governors captured Ohio Valley Conference tournament championships and represented the league in the NCAA tournament (2000-02).

 

Garnder discovered that Swoffard had a knack for recruiting talent at a young age.

 

"She was always our student host for recruits and a great person to be around," said Gardner.

 

Following her time at Austin Peay, Swoffard spent three seasons at the helm of the Georgia Metros AAU basketball team before joining the staff at Rowan University (N.J.) as a graduate assistant.

 

Most recently, Swoffard has been an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith over the last four seasons. In her first year with the Lady Lions, Swoffard helped guide the team to a 34-2 record and the Bi-State Conference East Division title, the NJCAA Region II tournament championship and a third-place finish at the national tournament.

 

Swoffard earned a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Austin Peay in 2002.

 

"Another positive is that Swoffard knows what its like to play for me . . . so players can go to her and say, 'what's up with coach today'?" said Gardner.

 

Jones, a native of Sandersville, Ga., begins her tenure with the Bears after most recently serving as program coordinator for the University of Georgia women's basketball program during the 2009-10 season. Jones' responsibilities with the Lady Bulldogs included oversight of all game film and tape exchange, maintenance of the former player and friends of program directory and all aspects of scheduling games with opponents and contract production and distribution.

 

"Amy came highly recommended by Georgia coaches Andy Landers and Cameron Newbauer," Gardner said. "She has a hunger to be on the floor and I know she'll be great. She's done a lot of the behind the scenes things that are vital to a program's success, such as scouting."

 

Prior to being named program coordinator, Jones functioned as the graduate manager for the Lady Bulldogs. In the summer of 2009, Jones also assisted Georgia head coach Andy Landers with the Lady Bulldogs basketball camps.

 

Jones received her master's degree from UGA in Exercise Science in May of 2010.

 

Jones' playing career came at Presbyterian College where she was a four-year starter before graduation in the spring of 2008. In her junior and senior seasons, Jones was the leading scorer for the Blue Hose, averaging 16.4 and 10.0 points, respectively.

 

Gardner and her staff now face the challenge of filling out the Bears' roster before the season kicks off in early November. Mercer returns six players from last year's team that finished 14-16 (11-9 A-Sun) and captured the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament.