Randy Wittman BIO:
With
a wealth of NBA coaching experience and basketball knowledge, Randy Wittman is
in his fourth season in the Washington Wizards organization and first full
season as head coach. Wittman was named
head coach of the Wizards on January 24, 2012, and was signed to an extension
as Head Coach on June 4, 2012. Following
the team’s 2-15 start, Wittman led the Wizards to an 18-31 record, which
included a strong finish to the 2011-12 season where the team won eight of their
final 10 games (including their last six in a row). During the six-game winning streak to
conclude the season, the Wizards held opponents to 84.7 points per game on .399
shooting from the field. In the same
stretch, the Wizards averaged 99.2 points per game on .481 shooting from the
field. Under Wittman’s leadership, the
team’s defensive efforts improved considerably. Washington held opponents to 92.0 points per
game on .439 shooting from the field in their last 25 contests to close out the
2011-12 season.
Prior
to coming to Washington, Wittman served as head coach of the Minnesota
Timberwolves from January 23, 2007 to December 8, 2008. That marked his third
stint with the Timberwolves, as he also served as an assistant coach with
Minnesota from 1994-1999 and from 2001-2005.
Wittman
earned his first NBA head coaching job in Cleveland, where he led the Cavaliers
for two seasons from 1999-2001. He began
his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers in 1992, and
later worked as an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic.
A
1983 graduate of Indiana University, Wittman played collegiately under Bobby
Knight, helping the Hoosiers to a NCAA championship in 1981. Wittman’s
best season at Indiana came during his senior campaign where he averaged 19.0
points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game and was named co-Big 10 Player of
the Year. He was originally drafted by
the Washington Bullets with the 22nd pick of the 1983 NBA Draft, but
was traded to the Atlanta Hawks prior to the start of the 1983-84 season. Wittman played nine seasons in the NBA for
Atlanta, Sacramento and Indiana before retiring in 1992 with a career average
of 7.4 points per game (.501 FG%) in 543 games.
He averaged 10 or more points in three straight seasons from
1985-1988. During the 1985-86 season,
Wittman averaged a career-high 12.9 points per game.
Wittman’s
numbers increased in the playoffs during his career as he averaged 12.8 points
per game in 38 playoff games with the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers. Wittman averaged 17.8 points per game in nine
playoff games for the Hawks during the 1985-86 season and 16.4 points per game
in nine playoff games during the 1986-87 season also for the Hawks.
As
a two-time academic All-American at Indiana, he was also named the Co-Big Ten
Player of the Year as a senior in 1983.
Wittman was inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame in 1995
and was named to the Indiana Silver Anniversary Basketball Team in March of
1996. In 1997, Wittman was inducted to
the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. A
native of Indianapolis, Wittman and his wife, Kathy, have two children, Ryan a
former standout for Cornell’s men’s basketball team, and Lauren, a senior at
Indiana University.
