Charleston hires former Wake Forest head coach Murczek

The former Wake Forest women’s volleyball coach is moving to college men’s volleyball and the newest EIVA member.

Charleston announced on its athletics department website that it hired Ken Murczek to be the program’s new head coach.

Murczek in four seasons with Wake Forest went a combined 44-52. The coach, though, resigned in May as the school for the second time in less than two years was investigating him for mistreatment of players.

Among the media reports about Murczek’s treatment of players included a report from HBO Real World of Sports with former players stating the coach would use derogatory terms when speaking to his team. Former and current players also stated in a Wake Forest student-newspaper article that Murczek would threaten players with revoking their scholarships, along with criticizing players who ate too much.

The initial school investigation started following a complaint from an unnamed Wake Forest player and found that Murczek did not violate the university’s sexual harassment policy or Title IX regulations. In addition, the second investigation promptly concluded after Murczek opted to resign.

Besides his time at Wake Forest, Murczek led North Texas to two 20-win seasons in three years. The Mean Green won two division titles under Murczek and made the Sun Belt finals for the first time in program history.

Murczek returns to college men’s volleyball after playing for San Diego State in the 1990s. He also played professional volleyball overseas for four years before starting his coaching career.

Charleston is entering the program’s third season and finished 2016, its inaugural season in the EIVA, in last place.

Charleston was the first college in West Virginia to form a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team. It is also one of six new NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams in the last two years.