WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary men's basketball head coach Brian Earle on Thursday hired Max Ginsburg and Alex Manhard as assistant coaches, along with assistant coach Jimmy Fenerty and director of basketball operations Kyle. – Announced that Mr. Pope will remain as tribal staff.
Ginsburg has extensive Division I experience at Holy Cross and most recently joined the Green and Gold under Cornell University's Earl. Munfard has eight years of coaching experience in Division I, most recently at the University of Denver where he spent one season. Fenerty and Pope spent the first few years of the 2023-24 season in Williamsburg.
In three seasons at her alma mater, Cornell University, Ginsburg helped the school to a 54-20 record, including a 25-17 mark in the Ivy League. Cornell University has qualified for the Ivy League Tournament, a tournament open to only four teams, for three seasons, and five players earned All-Ivy League honors, including the 2023-24 first team.
“Max has been instrumental in our great success over the past three years at Cornell, and his understanding of the system and knowledge of the game will be beneficial at W&M,” Earl said. “He is a diligent recruiter and works tirelessly to recruit the type of student-athletes who can succeed both on the court and in the classroom.”
During his tenure, the Big Red regularly led the Ivy League in scoring, 3-pointers and attempts, field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, assists, assist-to-turnover ratio, bench points, Fast break point, steal.
In the 2023-24 season, Ginsburg played a key role in leading the Big Red to one of the best seasons in school history. Cornell won 22 games, the second most in school history, and finished second in the Ivy League with an 11-3 record. The Big Red also received the program's first bid to the NIT and finished the year within the nation's top 20 in bench scoring, effective field goal percentage, assists, 3-point shooting percentage, field goal percentage, and scoring. .
“I am very honored to join Coach Earle’s staff at William & Mary,” Ginsburg said. “We have some special student-athletes here, and I'm very excited to work with them and begin building a successful program on and off the court.”
Ginsburg spent three seasons at Holy Cross as director of basketball operations and video coordinator. He joined Cornell's program as an undergraduate and during the 2017-18 season as the team's head manager and assistant to the director of basketball operations. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management in his 2018 year and then earned a master's degree in communications management from the University of Southern California in 2019.
Last season in Denver, Manfard helped the Pioneers win 17 games, the program's most since the 2012-13 season, and advance to the Summit League Championship Game for the first time in program history. Guard Tommy Bruner earned first team All-Summit League honors and ranked second in the nation in scoring. As a team, Denver ranked 25th in the nation with 81 points per game.
“Alex and I had the opportunity to work closely together at Cornell, and he played an integral role in the program's success over the past several years,” Earl said. “He has developed a wealth of basketball knowledge and experience as a member of the staffs at Northwestern University, Cornell University and the University of Denver, and we look forward to working together again.”
Munfard spent five seasons with Earle at Cornell University. In his final two seasons with the Big Red, Cornell posted records of 15-11 and 17-11 and advanced to the Ivy League tournament each year. In his first season, he led the Big Red to its first postseason appearance in nine years and qualified for the 2019 CIT. A total of five Cornell players earned All-Ivy League honors during Munfard's time at Ithaca. In his final season with the Big Red, the team ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring, 3-pointers and tries, assists, steals, bench scoring and fast break points.
Munfard spent two years as a graduate assistant coach under head coach Chris Collins at Northwestern University. The Wildcats reached the program's first NCAA Tournament in 2017, advancing to the second round. In addition to coaching, Manfard also earned a master's degree in sports management, graduating in 2018. Manfard began his coaching career at his alma mater, Greenville University. He was coached by Dr. George Barber and helped the Panthers reach the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) in 2016.
Fenerty has nine years of Division I coaching experience, including four seasons at Temple before joining W&M. He played collegiately at Dickinson College and also worked as an assistant coach at Lafayette. Pope was a two-sport student-athlete at St. Vincent College, and for his two years before coming to W&M East, he served as a graduate assistant at Stroudsburg College.
“Jimmy and Kyle both came highly recommended after their efforts in the program last year,” Earl said. “They have been extremely helpful during my transition period over the last month and will continue to be a valuable member of our program. Jimmy has a wealth of coaching experience and a great mind for the game. Kyle has a bright future. He really understands the program and has done a great job of building great relationships with the student-athletes.”