The longest serving coach in Viterbo men’s basketball program history, Wayne Wagner ’92 has compiled 326 wins during his 23-year career at the university. He was named Coach of the Year by the North Star Athletic Association and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association in 2022 for leading the V-Hawks to a conference co-championship and the conference tournament championship game.

An outstanding basketball and baseball player for the V-Hawks in his own right, Wagner was inducted into the Viterbo Athletics Wall of Fame in 1999.

Q. What did Coach of the Year honors mean to you?

A. This recognition more than anything else meant that the team did very well. It is simply an acknowledgment that reflects the achievements that came through the talent and hard work of the players and assistant coaches. I am so thankful that we could all share in a successful season together.

Q. Forward Jack Monis was named Conference Player of the Year and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention. Did these accolades for one of your players make the season even more special?

A. The whole team can take pride in the awards that Jack and others received. They are reflections of the great things that came out of the success of the team. It is very gratifying to see people like Jack and his teammates who work so hard get rewarded for their efforts.

Q. How has coaching changed in your more than two decades at Viterbo?

A. Coaching is the same. Some elements of the game have changed, but coaching is still about building teams that are committed to one another in all ways. We have been so fortunate to have such hard working, committed, high-character people in our program over the years working together through the challenges of college life and beyond.

Q. What is your favorite part of coaching?

A. What means the most to me after all these years is staying connected to former players and hearing all the great things happening in their lives. It has been such a joy and privilege to be invited to so many weddings over the years at which I see former teammates and listen to all of the stories about their lives and their time as V-Hawks. I love how the Viterbo basketball experience creates such lasting bonds and lifelong friendships.

Q. Who is your favorite basketball player of all time?

A. Sidney Moncrief. Sidney was a leader of great Milwaukee Bucks teams when I was growing up through the late 1970s and ’80s. He played hard all the time and was the first-ever NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Current Buck Giannis Antetokounmpo is quickly approaching Moncrief’s legendary status in my mind though. He is an amazing role model for everyone.

Q. What do you like to do outside of coaching?

A. The most important thing for me is trying to do right by my family. I am so thankful to have an incredible wife and amazing daughter who appreciate all that it takes to live in the coaching world. My wife Kim [Hendricks ’01] was an outstanding basketball player at Viterbo, so she gets what it means to be so involved in team building. Right now, we are working hard every day trying to build our own team together raising our wonderful little girl Kendall, who is in second grade. A personal highlight of mine was performing in a “Daddy Daughter Dance” during one of Kendall’s dance recitals on the Viterbo Fine Arts Center Main Theatre stage.