TJ Otzelberger Is Looking to Bring UNLV Back to The Glory Days
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In the Spring of 2019, UNLV announced it's new Head Basketball Coach as TJ Otzelberger. Otzelberger had most recently been head men's basketball coach of the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits. While at SDSU, Coach TJ Otzelberger and his teams had achieved a 70-33 record.
Coach Otzelberger brings a strong recruiting background as well as his knowledge on the courts to a university looking to return to the NCAA Championship game and title, something that has eluded them since they won their only championship in 1990.
As a youth, TJ Otzelberger's father had aspirations that his son would follow in his footsteps and play baseball. Being your standard, run of the mill rebellious teenager, TJ Oztzelberger sought to choose his own path and in this case it was basektball.
He went on to be a three-year starteer at his high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He would go on to play college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. TJ Otzelberger would server as team caption for two seasons.
During the 2001 to 2004 seasons, TJ Otzelberger would coach high school basketball in Burlington, Wisconsin. He would also serve as athletic director during this time. In 2005, he joined the Chipola College coaching staff. That year the Chipola College Indians won the Panhandle Conference with a record of 33-4 and would go on to place third in the NJCAA national tournament.
In 2006, TJ Otzelberger would join the Iowa State Cyclones coaching staff. He would serve as an assistant coach through 2010 when he would be promoted to associate head coach. While on the coaching staff at Iowa State they would get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. The Cyclones would defeat reigning national champion Connecticut before being defeated by Kentucky who would go on to win the NCAA title. In the 2012-13 season, the Cyclones finished 4th in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Ohio State.
During his tenure at Iowa State Coach TJ Otzelberger became widely regarded as the one of the top recruiters in college basketball. While building his skills as a recruiter, Otzelberger also was in charge with opponent scouting and game planning during those 2012 and 2013 seasons.
At the end of the 2013 season, it was announced that TJ Otzelberger would join the Washington Huskies coaching staff. Media outlets and sports analysts would call Coach Otzelberger one of the hottest coaching properties out there.
In 2015, TJ Otzelberger would return to Iowa State's coaching staff where he would remain until spring of 2016 when he was given the opportunity to be the Head Coach of South Dakota State. In the very first season as Jackrabbit head coach, TJ Otzelberger would lead the team to the Summit League Tournament Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. In 2018, he would take the Jackrabbits back to the NCAA Tournament for the their third straight visit.
Get to know 5 things you may not know about Coach TJ Otzelberger from the video below:
Coach TJ Otzelberger has joined forces with Effective Basketball to bring his Defensive Player Development blueprint to coaches and players. Check out the trailer below and then head over to EffectiveBasketball.com to get your copy of this soon to be Defensive Skills Development masterpiece.
You can get your copy of TJ Otzelberger's Defensive Player Development Drills and Concepts here or at the BUY NOW link below. You will get all of the drills and skill developing workouts that are destined to put UNLV back on top of the NCAA heap. Check it out today!
