Rich Zvosec (born March 13, 1961) is a television broadcaster for ESPN and Fox Sports, motivational speaker and a Telly Award-winning actor, a former American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and college administrator. After a 25-year coaching career, he currently serves as the associate athletics director for

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

Life

Zvosec was born in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

, and graduated from Lorain Catholic High School in 1979. He enrolled at

Defiance College The Defiance College is a private college located in Defiance, Ohio, United States. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary. The college is accredited by t ...

, where he played basketball and earned a bachelor's degree in business. In 1988 he became head coach of the St. Francis (NY) Terriers, becoming the youngest Division I coach in the country at age 27. In his third year, the Terriers recorded the program's first winning season since 1978 and had the most DI wins in two decades. Zvosec left in 1991, and became head coach for the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public university, public research university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern ...

North Florida Ospreys The North Florida Ospreys are the athletic teams of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. UNF became a full-fledged member of Division I in 2009; previously, the Os ...

, the first in school history. In 1997, he left UNF for one year at

Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the ten schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa ...

. In 2001, he succeeded

Dean Demopoulos Dean Demopoulos (born March 29, 1954) is an American professional basketball coach. Early life Demopoulos was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from West Chester State in 1977 with a degree in comprehensive social sciences. He ...

as head coach for the

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC or Kansas City) is a Public university, public research university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and has a UMKC School of Medicine, medic ...

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

. Four of his six teams at UMKC finished with winning records. He also finished with one of the highest winning percentages in conference play while at the school, and the most conference wins in school history. He led the Kangaroos to a 93–52 win over Kansas State in December 2003, the school's 200th win and their first over the Wildcats. He left with the highest winning percentage in school history. Zvosec also had the second highest Mid-Continent Conference winning percentage during his six-year tenure. Zvosec was fired from UMKC on March 13, 2007. He subsequently worked as a color commentator for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Zvosec was inducted into the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame on May 3, 2007. In 2008 Zvosec authored a book about his collegiate coaching experiences called "Birds, Dogs and Kangaroos: Life on the Back Roads of College Basketball" In 2013, he became the associate athletic director of

Arkansas State University Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the st ...

."Former UMKC coach Rich Zvosec headed to Arkansas State as administrator"
(February 22, 2013). ''Kansas City Star''. Retrieved March 11, 2013. He is married to Hall of Fame Lacrosse player, Sandy Lanahan and have three children (Colin, Devin and Kailey).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zvosec, Rich 1961 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Arkansas State Red Wolves athletic directors Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Defiance Yellow Jackets men's basketball players Kansas City Roos men's basketball coaches Millersville Marauders men's basketball coaches North Florida Ospreys men's basketball coaches Saint Peter's Peacocks men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Lorain, Ohio St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen