About Athletic Director Brian Stanchak
Brian D. Stanchak enters his second year as Director of Athletics at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The Athletic Department has grown tremendously in the one year that he has been here. Under his leadership:
* 1 PSUAC Championship and 11 student-athletes named All-Conference
* 8 USCAA National and 38 PSUAC All-Academic student-athletes
* A new academic structure for student-athletes was developed, resulting in a department wide 2.9
GPA with 53% of all student-athletes achieving over a 3.0 GPA
* The first Athletic Trainer and Assistant Soccer Coach in school history were hired
* New Head Coaches were hired in baseball, cross country, and women’s basketball
* Visibility of athletics was enhanced through relationships built with local print media (Citizens
Voice, Times Leader), reemphasis placed on the athletic website, and the creation of social
networking sites (Facebook, Twitter)
* Department community service efforts were improved through involvement with the Wilkes-Barre
JCC/YMCA and American Cancer Society
* A Student-Athlete Advisory Board was formed to engage athletes in enhancing their athletic experience
* The intramural sports program was established, building the number of participating students to 100
Stanchak, 30, arrived at Penn State Wilkes-Barre after spending three seasons in the Big East Conference as Assistant Coach/Camp Director with the Seton Hall University Women’s Basketball team. While at Seton Hall, he recruited three student-athletes ranked in the top 100 nationally in their class. He also helped the Pirates win their most non-conference games in school history during the 2008-09 season (12), as well as built the Team Camp from scratch to where it was at full capacity over a 2-year period.
Prior to Seton Hall, Stanchak served two years as the Top Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator with the Fairleigh Dickinson University Women’s Basketball team. During his two years at FDU, Stanchak helped the Knights improve by 10 wins overall and seven wins in the Northeast Conference. His two recruiting classes consisted of three student-athletes who made the NEC All-Rookie Team. During the 2005-06 season, FDU ranked 24th in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll, which recognizes the Division I programs with the highest overall team GPA.
Stanchak spent the 2004-05 season as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations for the men's and women's teams at the University of Pennsylvania working under current Temple coach, Fran Dunphy, and women’s coach, Patrick Knapp. That season, the Quaker men won the Ivy League championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Stanchak graduated from Seton Hall in 2004 with a degree in Sport Management. While an undergraduate at Seton Hall, Stanchak was a Student-Assistant/Video Coordinator for the men's basketball program (beginning under current Harvard coach Tommy Amaker), working with one NCAA Tournament team and two NIT squads. Stanchak was part of teams that consisted of future NBA players Samuel Dalembert, Eddie Griffin, and Andre Barrett.
From 1997-2000, he was an assistant coach at Delaware Valley High School in Frenchtown, N.J., while also serving as head coach of the 15U West Jersey Warriors AAU boy's basketball team from 1999-2000. In 2004, Stanchak briefly worked with the Hoop Group as the Assistant Director of Team Tournaments. He has also served a short stint as a Sales Representative with Aqua Pharmaceuticals, where he became the number one Sales Representative in the company in only 7 ½ months. Stanchak was born and raised in Pittstown, NJ, and now resides in Ashley, PA.
| Years | Position | School | Post-Season |
| 2011-Present | Director of Athletics | Penn State Wilkes-Barre | |
| 2007-10 | Assistant Coach/Camp Director | Seton Hall University (w) | |
| 2005-07 | Top Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator | Fairleigh Dickinson University (w) | |
| 2004-05 | Coordinator of Basketball Operations | University of Pennsylvania (m & w) |
2005 Men’s IVY League Champions,
|
| 2000-04 | Student-Assistant/Video Coordinator | Seton Hall University | 2004 NCAA Tournament (2nd Round),
2001 and 2003 NIT Tournament |
| 1997-00 | Assistant Coach | Delaware Valley H.S. (NJ) | 2000 NJ State Tournament |