“I am thrilled and humbled to be the next head coach at Wittenberg University,” Hertz said in a press release. “I would like to thank President Michael Frandsen and Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Brian Agler for their trust and belief in me to lead this historic program. Wittenberg’s tradition as the winningest D3 program in the country speaks for itself.
“I’m beyond excited to get started and continue to build on the tradition that is Wittenberg hoops. Tiger Up!”
Hertz replaces Matt Croci, who stepped down Aug. 8 to take the athletic director job at Wilmington College. Croci spent eight seasons as head coach, succeeding longtime coach Bill Brown, who was Croci’s college coach. Brown led the program for 23 seasons before resigning in 2016.
Hertz takes over a program that finished 13-12 in back-to-back seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before improving to 18-9 last season. Wittenberg last won the North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship and reached the NCAA tournament in 2020. It last won the NCAC tournament in 2019.
With Hertz leaving Dayton, associate head coach Ricardo Greer is the only coach remaining from Grant’s first season who has been with the program for eight seasons. James Kane was also on the staff in 2017-18 but then spent three seasons at Iowa State before returning to UD.
Wittenberg is the second local college to hire a longtime Division I assistant coach this summer. Cedarville University hired Rob Jones, who spent 17 seasons at Richmond and then two at Liberty, earlier this month.
Hertz will be a first-time head coach at the Division III level after spending his entire career in Division I. He was one of the original members of Grant’s staff in the 2017-18 season. He started his tenure at Dayton as special assistant to the head coach and was elevated to assistant coach in 2019. His title changed to assistant coach/director of player development in 2023.
“We are excited that Coach Hertz is leading our program into our future,” Agler said in a press release. “Darren comes highly recommended, and when meeting with our campus staff, the committee, athletics staff, and team members, he was extremely impressive. I’m confident Darren will hit the ground running and is motivated to extend our strong tradition of highly respected and successful basketball into this season and beyond.”
Hertz arrived at Dayton after two seasons at the University of Illinois with John Groce. Prior to his stint at Illinois, Hertz had spent his entire career (19 seasons, 1996-2015) working for Billy Donovan at the University of Florida. Hertz was there in 2006 and 2007 when the Gators won back-to-back national championships.
Hertz and his wife Julie have two children, Brandon (14) and Lexi (12).
“I had the good fortune to work very closely with Darren Hertz for 19 years at the University of Florida. Darren is an incredible person and basketball coach who played a major role in the success we had at Florida,” Donovan said in a press release. “I am certainly aware of the great basketball tradition at Wittenberg, and I have no doubt that Darren will carry on that tradition. He will build great relationships, will help players develop on and off the court, and he will make a great impact in the community. He is a tireless worker, and I am extremely excited for both Darren and Wittenberg.”
For the first 11 seasons of Donovan’s tenure, Hertz and Grant coached together. Hertz got his start as a student assistant in 1996. He graduated from Florida in 1997. Grant and Hertz are both from Miami, Fla. Hertz is a graduate of Miami Killian High School.
“We are very excited for Darren and his family,” Grant said in a press release. “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Darren and Julie for over 25 years and working directly with Darren for close to two decades. He will bring impeccable character, synergy and passion combined with decades of experience in every aspect of running a program and building a championship caliber organization. Darren will be an outstanding ambassador for Wittenberg basketball and the campus community.”
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