Greg Gard recruited and help land Greg Stiemsma as a four-star center in the 2004 recruiting class.

Roughly 20 years later, the two will be reunited in Madison with Stiemsma being named the director of player development for the Wisconsin basketball staff on Wednesday.

“We are excited to welcome Greg Stiemsma and his family back to Wisconsin,” Gard communicated via a release. “Having Stiemsma in this position is another step to meet the ever-changing needs of our program and make sure that we stay at the forefront in this new age of college athletics.

“Stiemsma brings multiple years of professional experience in a variety of roles to our staff. He will be a tremendous asset to our team, having worked in-depth with some of the NBA’s best players and coaches centered specifically around player development. As a former NBA player himself, he also knows firsthand what it takes as an athlete to reach the pro level and then ultimately succeed. As a player at Wisconsin, Stiemsma competed at a championship level with traits and qualities that we value in our program.”

The addition of Stiemsma is the latest big move Gard has made this offseason. He replaced Dean Oliver with Lance Randall on his bench, retained Kirk Penney as a special assistant to the head coach and hired Isaac Wodajo as Director of Recruiting and Scouting.

A four-star prospect out of Randolph High School in Wisconsin, Stiemsma played for the Badgers from 2004-08. He then competed in the NBA with Boston, Minnesota, New Orleans and Toronto, and then overseas in Turkey and Korea. After his playing career, Stiemsma worked in player development with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2019-21) and San Antonio Spurs (2022-present).

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to Wisconsin and have an impact on this program again,” Stiemsma communicated in the same release. “Plenty has changed since my time as a Badger, and I’ve gained a lot of invaluable experience and knowledge of the game over the years as both a professional player and more recently through coaching. I’m excited to get to work this season with Coach Gard, the great staff that he has assembled and this exciting team of players.”

During his time at UW, Stiemsma appeared in 95 games and was part of the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles in 2008. He currently ranks 10th in school history with 96 career blocks. Stiemsma and associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft were teammates with the Badgers from 2005-08.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook