Wardenburg Looks to Pursue New Career Opportunities

PROVO -- BYU head basketball coach Dave Rose has announced that assistant coach John Wardenburg is leaving the program to pursue other options.

“John is one of the hardest working coaches I’ve been associated with,” Rose said. “He knows the game inside and out and has been a big part of our success. I’m grateful to John and Pam for their friendship and tremendous contributions to our program and the BYU community. I wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”

Wardenburg joined the BYU coaching staff in May 2001 under former head coach Steve Cleveland. In four seasons under Cleveland, Wardenburg helped the Cougars to back-to-back 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances. BYU also tied for the MWC regular season title in 2003.

Under Rose the past five seasons, Wardenburg has helped the Cougars enjoy one of their most successful runs in program history. During that stretch BYU is 127-40 overall, has won three Mountain West Conference titles and won 25-plus games, earned an NCAA Tournament bid and been ranked in the top 25 in each of the last four seasons. In 2009-10, the Cougars won a program record 30 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993.

Wardenburg’s primary responsibilities on the staff have included defensive skill development, game film preparation, defensive game plan preparation, summer basketball camp director and recruiting. His efforts on the defensive end have helped the Cougars consistently rank among the top teams in the MWC in steals, rebound margin, field goal percentage defense and scoring margin.

“I appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to coach at BYU. I’ll miss the association I’ve had with the coaches and support staff,” Wardenburg said. “What I’ll miss the most are the associations with the players, both past and present. They’re great young men. I am looking forward to the next stage of my career and I know that it will be equally as exciting and fulfilling as my time has been here at BYU.”