Michigan State basketball brings back Doug Wojcik; to help recruiting?

EAST LANSING — There is a new, yet familiar, face behind Tom Izzo’s bench these days.

Former assistant coach Doug Wojcik is back at Michigan State basketball helping Izzo in an advisory role similar to what Brian Gregory did during the 2016-17 season.

However, there might be more on Wojcik’s agenda than just being a sounding board.

Izzo hinted at getting some equipment from the football team to break out his “War Drill” after Sunday’s 106-82 win over Florida Gulf Coast. But he also might be borrowing an idea from Mark Dantonio’s hiring of Sheldon White and college football’s allowance for a recruiting coordinator.

Izzo’s concept is in large part a reaction to the NCAA’s sweeping rules changes that now allow high school juniors to take official visits to campuses. Colleges now can pay for 28 official visits for recruits over a rolling, two-year period, per the new regulations.

“We have to start so much earlier on who we bring to campus, and it’s really a pain,” Izzo said. “We’re still recruiting kids – last year, we were done in September. And it is difficult to coach and recruit.

“Football has a recruiting coordinator. And I talked to White, and I just think it’s gonna happen in basketball. Now, it’s hard to coach your team and be involved in all of that, especially when you’re bringing like 12 juniors to campus.”

Enter Wojcik.

More:Michigan State basketball: What went right and wrong against Kansas

Izzo said he plans to use his former assistant for advice and oversight of some day-to-day things within the program like he did with Gregory, but Wojcik could be more involved in helping to set up all of those extra visits – though, Izzo admits, it is a role in flux.

“I’m on a trial and error part of it,” Izzo said. “But I really think I’m gonna use him more. I liked what Brian did in observing our staff, but he’s gonna have some coordinating of the recruiting visits.”

Wojcik was an assistant and associate head coach under Izzo from 2003-05 before leaving to take the top job at Tulsa, which he held until being released from his contract in 2012. He then spent two seasons as head coach at College of Charleston. He was fired in August 2014 for allegations of being verbally abusive to his players.

The 54-year-old Navy alum, a former college teammate of David Robinson, owns a 178-121 overall record between his two head coaching stints.

Last year, Wojcik was an assistant at East Carolina after spending the 2015-16 season as a special assistant to Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

Wojcik's sons, Paxon and Denham, play at La Lumiere School in Indiana alongside MSU 2019 recruiting targets Keion Brooks and Isaiah Stewart. Jaren Jackson Sr., whose son played for Izzo last year before going to the NBA, also is an assistant coach there.

Paxon, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, has committed to Loyola (Chicago), where former Izzo graduate assistant Drew Valentine is an assistant coach. Denham is a 6-0 sophomore guard.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!