KENOSHA, Wis. – Parkside Athletics and head women's basketball coach Jen Conely have announced the hiring of Eric Gruber as the Assistant Women's Basketball Coach. He will join the Rangers staff immediately.

Gruber has spent the last two years as the Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prior to his time at Coe, Gruber served as an assistant coach at Loras College and a graduate assistant at North Central College. At Loras, Gruber helped the squad to an NCAA III Sweet 16 appearance before the tournament was cancelled.

"We are excited to welcome Eric to the Parkside family!" said Conely. "We had an outstanding pool of candidates and Eric quickly rose to the top; his knowledge and passion for the game, ability to connect with our student-athletes, and commitment to enhancing our student-athlete experience was evident throughout the process. I am looking forward to working with him and continuing to build on our program's success!"

Gruber was a four-year member of the North Central men's golf program from 2012-2016 and competed in three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship tournaments, highlighted by a 17th-place finish as a junior in 2015. He led the team with a career-best stroke average of 78.43 as a senior.

Gruber graduated from North Central in spring 2016 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast communication and a master's degree in leadership studies, with an emphasis in sports leadership in 2019.

"I would like to thank Jen Conely, Andrew Gavin, and the search committee," said Gruber, "I'm extremely grateful and excited for the opportunity to work with Coach Conely. There is a great energy here within the team and I can't wait to begin to contribute to the success here at UW-Parkside."