Men's Basketball Rounds Out Staff With Pair of Additions
Central Connecticut men's basketball head coach Patrick Sellers has announced the additions of Ryan Olander and Griffin Schwartz to the coaching staff for the 2022-23 season. Olander will serve as Assistant Coach, while Schwartz will be the Director of Basketball Operations/Scouting.
"Ryan and Griffin are great additions to our Central Connecticut basketball family," said Sellers. "Their experience and backgrounds will be a great addition to our program as we continue to build a successful foundation here."
Olander is a former standout at Fairfield University from 2008-12 where we was an All-MAAC performer and two-time team captain. He comes to CCSU after serving as Assistant Coach at the University of Saint Joseph since 2018. Olander has been with Blue Jays since the program's inception and helped develop multiple all-conference honoree, including the 2022 GNAC Player of the Year. While at USJ, he helped the program rice to as high as No. 5 in the D3Hoops poll and rank among the national leaders in several statistical rankings. Following his time at Fairfield, he played professionally in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) from 2012-15 and helped his squad to a 2015 Baltic League title and was named a LKL All-Star in 2014. Olander's responsibilities with the Blue Devils will include recruiting, scouting, analytics and player development.
"Ryan will bring experience as both a player and a coach to our program," said Sellers. "He's been successful at all stops of his career and will be able to share his knowledge and experiences with our athletes."
Schwartz joins the Blue Devils staff after most recently serving as Assistant Coach at Trinidad State University where he helped the team to a Region 9 Conference championship. Schwartz is a 2020 graduate of American Univeristy where he was the head student manager for the men's basketball program. He has also been a graduate assistant at East Carolina in 2020-21 where he played a role in developing scouting reports, editing game film, and creating analytics tools for the program. Schwartz has also worked with Hoop Group and Scouts Focus. His responsibilities at CCSU will including scouting, player development, operations, and film breakdown.
"Griffin is a young and hungry guy who will bring a lot of energy to our program," said Sellers. "He has a lot of experience in several areas throughout his career and will provide a valuable outlook for our athletes to draw from."
