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Mad Ants Announce Coaching Staff for 2016-17 Season

FORT WAYNE, IN – The 2016-2017 season marks the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, presented by Lutheran Health Network, 10-year anniversary. The Mad Ants welcome five new members to second-year Head Coach Steve Gansey's staff this season.

"I'm very excited to have these guys on my staff," Gansey said in a statement. "I wanted the best people around me that I can trust. "They bring great experience, energy and passion to the game and are the right people to help lead the Mad Ants to a successful season."

The Mad Ants welcome Al Grushkin as an Assistant coach to the staff. Al is a veteran head & assistant college coach who has worked as an NBA scout (Marty Blake & Assoc.) and as a consultant. Grushkin was the Head Coach at Indiana Tech, 2010-14. He has had three nationally ranked teams. In 2010-11 the teams' defense was ranked 1st nationally. He assisted "Hall of Fame Coach' Nolan Richardson at Arkansas & Tulsa. Grushkin also was the Associate HC at UT San Antonio and Idaho St. and minor league Head Coach in 2014-15 in St Louis, which the team won Midwest Professional Basketball Association.

Jhared Simpson will be joining the Mad Ants staff for his 1st year this season as an assistant coach. Simpson previously worked for the Indiana Pacers in the video department assisting in film breakdown and statistical analysis. He had first joined the Pacers as a video intern in 2008-10. Simpson returned as a graduate assistant at Wheeling Jesuit University (Division II), where he completed a Master's degree. Simpson has also assisted as a coach for the Pacers' summer league teams.

Tyler Marsh joins the Mad Ants coaching staff with three previous years of D-League coaching experience. In 2014-2015, Marsh was an assistant coach for the Bakersfield Jam and was part of the coaching staff that coached the Western Conference All-Stars in the NBADL All-Star game. Marsh was an assistant coach for the Iowa Energy. In 2012-2013, Marsh was part of the coaching staff that helped lead the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a NBADL championship, in which he served as the Player Development coach as well as their color commentator.

Alex Cerda joins the Mad Ants as the Head Video Coordinator after completing his degree in Physical Culture and Sports from The University of Texas at Austin. The Dallas native served time last season as a student manager for the Men's Basketball team at Texas. Prior to this Cerda also served roles as a High School Director and Head Coach for Central Texas Attack where he assisted in the development of numerous players who now play at the collegiate level.

Head Physical Therapist and Assistant Athletic Trainer Collin Brown will join the Mad Ants for his first season. Brown is a recent graduate of the University of Dayton's Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. This past season he interned for the Oklahoma City Blues. Brown was involved in research in injury prediction within the NBA population that allowed him to collect data on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Indiana Pacers. He also graduated with a bachelor's degree in Athletic Training from Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Returning for his third season is Matt Campbell as Head Athletic Trainer. Harrison Greenburg, Director of Basketball Operations will assist in his second season with the Mad Ants. Jason Manikowski also returns for his second season with the Mad Ants as the Strength and Conditioning Coach.

General Manager Brian Levy is eager to get the season under way.

"The group we've assembled provides great balance and experience across all levels of basketball," Levy said. "Each brings their unique expertise to the team and combined we feel we can offer some of the best coaching and medical care to our players."

The Mad Ants begin their season on the road against the Greensboro Swarm on November 12th. The team returns to Fort Wayne for their home opener and celebrating the tip off of the 10 year Anniversary season on Sunday November 20th at 5:00 PM EST.

Join the Indiana Pacers' affiliate, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, as they continue their hunt for another NBA D-League Championship. For more information on tickets, please contact a Mad Ants representative at (260) 469-HOOP.