WSC Men's Basketball
Coaching Staff
John Pugliese
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
John Pugliese begins his first season as assistant men's basketball coach at Wayne State College. He will serve as the program's recruiting coordinator while working with the team's post play, coordinating offensive game plans, serving as community service liaison and assisting in opponent scouting.
Pugliese comes to Wayne State College with coaching experience at the NCAA Division I and III levels and most recently served as head boy's basketball coach and associate athletic director at Brentwood School in California for the last two seasons (2009-11).
Pugliese also served as an assistant coach at Division I Wagner College in Staten Island, New York from 2006-09 where he helped Wagner to a 23-8 record in the 2007-08 season, the most wins in school history. While at Wagner, Pugliese was in charge of guard play, individual instruction, practice and game preparation, scouting, travel, academics and film exchange while assisting in the recruitment of three nationally ranked top 100 recruiting classes according to hoopscooponline.com. He coached two First Team All-Northeast Conference players as well as the 2008-09 record holder for three point field goals made in an NCAA Division I game (11).
Pugliese worked as a student assistant coach with Coach Combs at Wisconsin-Platteville from 2004-06 after a shoulder injury forced the end of his playing career. In his time at UW-P, Pugliese assisted in recruiting, scouting and guard play instruction.
He earned his bachelor's degree in 2006 from Wisconsin-Platteville in physical education and attended Neuqua Valley High School in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Naperville. Pugliese will pursue a master's degree in sport management at Wayne State and also assists in game management duties at Wayne State College. He and his wife Billy reside in Wayne.
Alex Washington
Graduate Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
Alex Washington enters his second season as graduate assistant coach for the Wayne State College men's basketball team. He coordinates the team's guard play, academics, film exchange and scouting while assisting in recruiting.
Prior to beginning his coaching career at Wayne State, Washington attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where he received his bachelor's degree in business management in May, 2009. As a player at Augustana, Washington was a three-year letter winner helping his team to three consecutive CCIW conference championships and three consecutive NCAA Division III tournament appearances. He was voted two-time Team Most Valuable Defensive Player while shooting 48 percent from the field and averaging just under 10 points per game as a senior.
The Wheeling, Illinois product gained coaching experience during the 2009-10 basketball season by serving as the freshmen boys/assistant varsity basketball coach at Rock Island High School in Illinois. Washington, who is currently pursuing his masters degree in sport management here at Wayne State, spent the summer of 2011 working with the Bulls/Sox Training Academy in Lisle, Illinois. His responsibilities included camp coordination, individual skill instruction (specifically guard play) and community relations.
