![\"Kowalczyk\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Kowalczyk-vertical-by-Dan.jpg\")
<\/a>Kowalczyk<\/p><\/div>\u201cThe job Tod has done turning around our basketball program in such a short time has been remarkable,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cTod and his staff have transformed the culture within the program both on and off the court. We have put our Academic Progress Rate (APR) issues behind us, and we\u2019ve done so while making steady on-court improvement that includes tying for first place in the MAC\u2019s West Division this past season. <\/P><\/p>\n
\u201cTod runs his entire program in a first-class manner, and we\u2019re delighted to extend his contract through the 2018-19 season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful to President Lloyd Jacobs and Mike O\u2019Brien for the support and confidence they are displaying in me with this contract extension,\u201d Kowalczyk said. \u201cWe have made a great deal of progress with our program in three short years, and I\u2019m very excited in the direction we\u2019re heading both on the court and in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kowalczyk, 46, was named head coach in March 2010, assuming the reins of a program that had endured three straight losing seasons and was coming off a 4-28 win-loss mark. Last season, the Rockets tied for first place in the Mid-American Conference\u2019s West Division with a 10-6 league mark. In 2011-12, Kowalczyk guided Toledo to a 19-17 ledger to equal the second-best win improvement (plus 15) in the nation.<\/p>\n
Toledo\u2019s roster has been transformed completely by Kowalczyk and his staff during his three-year tenure. The Rockets are slated to return four starters in 2013-14, including first-team All-MAC selection Rian Pearson, third-team All-MAC honoree Julius Brown and MAC All-Freshman Team member Nathan Boothe. UT also will gain the services of juniors Justin Drummond and J.D. Weatherspoon after sitting out the 2012-13 campaign following their transfers from Loyola University Maryland and Ohio State, respectively.<\/p>\n
The Rockets have displayed significant academic improvement under Kowalczyk as well. The team\u2019s most recent APR figure was 959 with an expected mark of 981 for the 2012-13 season. The Rockets also posted a 2.982 team GPA in the 2013 spring semester.<\/p>\n
Prior to becoming UT\u2019s head coach, Kowalczyk posted a 136-112 record in eight years as Wisconsin-Green Bay\u2019s head coach. The Phoenix advanced to post-season play and notched back-to-back 22-win seasons in his last two seasons. In addition, every player who completed his eligibility while Kowalczyk was Green Bay\u2019s head coach received his degree.<\/p>\n
Kowalczyk is a native of DePere, Wis. He and his wife, Julie, have two children, Race, 6, and Rose, 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Head Men\u2019s Basketball Coach Tod Kowalczyk has signed a contract extension that will keep him at UT through the 2018-19 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}