Kevin Wenk is in the third season of his second stint as an assistant coach with the New York University men’s basketball team. Previously, he spent four seasons on the Violets’ sidelines (2006-07 to 2009-10).
Wenk helped lead the 2012-13 Violets to a 15-11 overall mark and to the quarterfinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro Championship. The team had a number of memorable victories, including a 65-51 triumph over then-undefeated and #1-ranked University of Rochester, as well as an 86-82 win over then-#17 Washington University.
The season was also marked by individual accomplishments, as seniors Carl Yaffe and Kyle Stockmal joined NYU’s 1,000-point club. Stockmal finished his career 23rd on the Violets’ career scoring list with 1,074 points, while Yaffe is now #5 all-time with 1,365.
In 2011-12, Wenk helped NYU record one of the most successful seasons in school history, as the squad earned a bid to the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time since 1997-98. The Violets went 21-6 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA’s. They hosted their first-round contest at home at the Coles Sports Center, defeating Misericordia University 84-65 for their first NCAA win in 15 seasons.
In the ultra-competitive University Athletic Association (UAA), Wenk helped the team go 9-5 to finish in second place – its best since the ’96-97 campaign. He and the rest of the staff went on to earn UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
During his first tenure as an assistant coach at NYU, Wenk helped the Violets advance to the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament in each of his four seasons. NYU went 17-10 and reached the ECAC Metro semifinals in 2009-10, two years after the team went 22-6 and won the ECAC Metro Championship for the first postseason crown in program history.
A 1996 graduate of Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, Wenk was a four-year member, two-year starter and two-time captain of the Bison basketball team. He twice won Bucknell’s Malcolm Musser Award for Leadership. Ironically, Wenk played two seasons under head coach Pat Flannery, whose Lebanon Valley College team defeated current NYU head coach Joe Nesci’s Violets in the 1994 NCAA Division III Championship Game.
Wenk played both point guard and shooting guard for Bucknell. He also contributed on the defensive end by routinely being assigned to cover the opposition’s main offensive weapon. Wenk quickly established a reputation for himself as a formidable opponent with his toughness, drive to win and invaluable leadership.
Wenk, who also currently works as a director in the Municipal Markets Division for Merrill Lynch in Manhattan, enrolled at NYU and earned a MBA in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business’ Langone (evening) Program in 2003.
A native of Vienna, VA, Wenk resides in Manhattan.
