Berlin Native Gets New Post at Maryland

BERLIN- Berlin native and Stephen Decatur graduate Troy Wainwright, who was a member of retired University of Maryland head basketball coach Gary Williams’ coaching staff for 15 years, has assumed a new role in his alma mater’s athletic department after being named executive director of the school’s “M Club” earlier this summer.

Wainwright, who graduated from Decatur in 1985, served as assistant director of athletics for men’s basketball at Maryland for 15 years before Williams retired earlier this year. Wainwright was part of some legendary Terp teams including the back-to-back Final Four teams and the 2002 National Championship team.

Wainwright grew up in Berlin and his parents were family friends with Coach Oliver Purnell, a former Decatur standout and assistant coach at Maryland when Wainwright arrived on campus in 1985. His parents urged him to visit Purnell at Maryland’s basketball offices, but when Purnell, now at DePaul, was not there, he got a chance meeting with Coach Lefty Driesell.

Wainwright served as the manager of the men’s basketball team at Maryland under Driesell and later Bob Wade. He returned to College Park in 1996 to begin a long run with Williams and the Terps. When Williams retired suddenly this spring, Wainwright was named executive director of the school’s “M Club” earlier this summer.