RIT has named Wayne Wilson its new head coach and manager of the Ritter Ice Arena, effective July 1st.
Nearly 40 applications were received for the open position, including applicants from D-I, D-III, high school, amatuer and pro ranks. The working search committee was composed of representatives from the administration, staff, faculty, and players from the team.
Wilson comes to RIT from a position as assistant coach at Division I Bowling Green, where he has been for the past 13 seasons serving under BG head coach Buddy Powers. Powers spent a year (1988-89) as RIT’s head coach and strongly encouraged Wilson to apply for the position.
Prior to Bowling Green, Wilson served as an assistant coach at New Hampshire for one season. He was as a stay-at-home defenseman at Bowling Green and helped the Falcons win three CCHA titles. Wilson, who amassed 101 points in 165 college games, captained the BG team that won the 1984 National Championship.
“RIT has a strong hockey background, but also is a big contributor to the community.” said Wilson, “I received positive feedback about RIT and community from everyone I talked to.”
Wilson was also excited about the RIT opportunity because they use similar recruiting areas as BG, and he is well established in those areas.
Wilson was very upbeat about the current players at RIT.
“We have a good nucleus of players already. My job is to add an influx of players to continue the success,” Wilson said. “We will continue in the wide-open [RIT] style due to the style of players currently in the program. I may tinker a bit, but the upbeat style is the way hockey is meant to be played.”
Wilson replaces RIT’s all-time winningest hockey coach Eric Hoffberg, who compiled a record of 188-82-22 in 10 seasons, including a trip to the NCAA Final Four in the recent 1998-1999 campaign.
