Jack Wistrcill – Deseret News 5A Tournament MVP

Jack Wistrcill earned Deseret News 5A Tournament MVP after leading Olympus past Utah Valley 73-69 in an action packed matchup that Jack contributed 14 points and six rebounds during. Olympus’ win marked one of its finest ever performances and Wistrcill was honored for this achievement.

He is a 6-foot-8 power forward for the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks of NCAA.

Early Life and Education

Jack Wistrcill hails from Salt Lake City, Utah and attended St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, where he captained their men’s basketball team as captain. With a bachelor’s degree in media communications and master’s in sports management to his name, Jack now serves as Director of Athletics for Akron’s Zips overseeing programs including Baseball, Men’s Cross Country, Football, Women’s Soccer, Men’s Golf and Swimming and Diving programs – with innovative fundraising, ticket sales and social media innovations leading to extraordinary success for Zips Athletics programs over recent years. Together with Kelly (also former swimmer at St Mary’s), they have two sons JT and Jack.

Professional Career

Jack Wistrcill is an American professional basketball player currently playing for Northern Arizona Lumberjacks of the NCAA. As a six-foot eight power forward, he boasts amazing shooting and rebounding skills as well as being an exceptional defensive player. On November 16th 2022 against Benedictine (AZ) Redhawks at home he achieved a career best 19 efficiency, scoring 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and making 12 of 18 shots (making 12). Also tied a career high 2 steals! His future in this sport looks bright!

Achievement and Honors

Wistrcill has orchestrated Akron’s athletic department’s rebranding to place more focus on student-athletes and fan experience, while broadening traditional audiences such as donors, ticket buyers and sponsors, while simultaneously growing new ones via social media. Under his watch, 27 conference team titles were won under Wistrcill, with nine out of 19 varsity teams winning their inaugural championship during his tenure; such as men’s basketball who made an NCAA tournament appearance 2013.

NAU fans in Flagstaff to watch a Big Sky game celebrated the grand opening of NAU’s Lumberjack Center on Sept. 30, 2014. The ceremony featured speeches by President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera and Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Marlow; it cost $160 million and featured Northern Arizona’s first retractable roof system.

Personal Life

Wistrcill holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, where he played basketball and served as captain of its men’s team; as well as from University of St Thomas Minneapolis. Kelly Wistrcill, a former swimmer from Minnesota was his spouse during this time. They have two children together: JT and Jack. Prior to joining Akron University, he served three years as senior associate athletics director at Minnesota. There, he handled ticket sales and marketing for their new 51,000-seat on-campus football stadium, led the process that brought Tubby Smith onto their men’s basketball program and negotiated contracts worth an estimated total of over $121 million for their athletic department. In addition, he has served as commissioner of two NCAA Division II conferences.