Doug Gottlieb is returning to college basketball. Published by University of Wisconsin-Green Bay He was scheduled to become head coach on Tuesday.
Gottlieb, a Fox Sports Radio host, will take over a Phoenix team that went 18-14 last season under former coach Sundance Wicks.
wicks I just left for Wyoming. With a 5 year contract.
Gottlieb said: press release “It was an honor to be appointed as Phoenix’s 10th coach,” he said.
In an interview withwithin wisconsin” Gottlieb added that many of the players from Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Plains are mid-major players who would rather play closer to home than constantly deal with agents and managers of major teams.
“We’re going to be in the portal with NIL, and that’s a big part of it,” Gottlieb added. “But there’s still this idea of, ‘This is how it used to be, and it could be really cool.'”
Details of Gottlieb’s contract are not yet clear, but the move is at least somewhat surprising considering he has no coaching experience at the collegiate level.
“Those who know me well and know the sport deeply, it’s not so much the school that gave me the opportunity, even though I’ve never coached in college, but the fact that I chose to attend. That’s it,” Gottlieb told Inside Wisconsin. “When it comes to actual coaching and its X’s and O’s, I’ve coached more games in the last seven years than anyone in America. Because I coach AAU games where my sons play at different levels. Because sometimes I’ve coached 10 to 16 games in a weekend.
“I’m not going to sit here and say it’s as thorough coaching as Horizon’s Division I coaching, but it’s like speed dating, especially for those of us who can handle every moment.”
Gottlieb was a prolific college basketball player in the late 1990s and is the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ all-time assist leader.
he was there kicked out of Notre Dame Cathedral He was accused of stealing his classmate’s credit card when he was in the first grade.
Gottlieb is best known for being a media personality these days, most recently with FOX Sports, while also working with the Pac-12 Network, CBS Sports, and ESPN.
He reportedly plans to continue hosting the radio show. Per ESPN.
As for coaching honors, Gottlieb led Team USA to gold medals in 2017 and 2022 as the head coach of the Maccabiah Games, an international event for Jewish athletes and Israeli citizens.
He also coaches in the AAU ranks.
He also runs Branch West Basketball, a youth development basketball program in Southern California originally started by his father, Bob Gottlieb.
Gottlieb was born in Milwaukee, about two hours away from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Gottlieb, 48, was a runner-up in Green Bay in 2023 before moving to Wickes.
Wicks left after a successful first season in which he took over a 3-24 roster and won 15 more games, so Gottlieb will need to improve.
Phoenix has won the Horizon League once since 1996.
