Wildcats men's basketball announces addition of two new staff

6/10/2022 12:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

ABILENE - Men's Basketball and head coach, Brette Tanner, announced the addition of two new staff members this week. Vince Walker and Damian de Santiago will join the Wildcats staff as the Director of Operations and the Director of Strength and Conditioning, respectively.

Vince Walker joined the Wildcats staff in June of 2022 as the Director of Operations. Walker previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Pittsburg State University (Kan.) at the NCAA DII level. While with the Gorillas, he coordinated meals and travel while also working on game scouts. He also emphasized analytics in his coaching to help give the team an enhanced look at their playing style.

Before coaching at Pittsburg State, Walker was a four year player at the University of Illinois-Springfield from 2015-19 and left the program as the team's all-time leader in threes made. He was also a two-year team captain. While at UIS he a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, University of Bible Fellowship Club, and the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.

Walker earned his undergraduate degree from UIS in 2019, a BS in Business and a BA in Communications. He earned a graduate degree in Human Resources Development while at Pittsburg State.

We are excited to add Vince to the staff. He is a bright young coach with a big future.

Coach Tanner

Damian De Santiago joined the Strength and Conditioning department as the Director for Basketball in June of 2022. De Santiago brings a wealth of experience after a combined three years experience at Texas Tech and one year spent at Weber State.

Damian spent the 2021-22 season as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach for men's basketball with the nationally ranked Red Raiders program. While working with the basketball team he collaborated with the head strength and conditioning coach, the athletic trainers and team doctor, as well as the kinesiology department to ensure the athletes could perform to their highest level. Prior to the year with Texas Tech, De Santiago spent a season at Weber State where he served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition for the men's and women's basketball programs. While there he was in charge of creating and implementing the strength program as well as warming up the team prior to practices and games. He also coordinated with the basketball operations staffs to develop road game operations.

Before his season with Weber State, he spent two seasons with Texas Tech as post-graduate intern working with Olympic sports and football. In his two years in that role he coordinated with the full-time staff to work with developmental and rehabbing athletes, helped to input and interpret any data collected, and helped facilitate daily nutrition operations.

De Santiago earned his BS in Kinesiology from Texas Tech in 2018 and his MS in Sport Management from Texas Tech in 2020. He is NSCA and First Aid/CPR certified.