Gerst More Than Just a Student Assistant for Men's Basketball Team

Oskaloosa--He knew he couldn't make it as a player, so as the old saying goes: if you can't play, coach. Brennan Gerst has taken that to heart and become a staple in the William Penn men's basketball program.

Gerst, though coming in a small package, has made a huge impact on the Statesmen cager program, assisting the team to a 95-34 record, three Midwest Collegiate Conference regular season titles, two MCC Tournament crowns, and two NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances in his tenure.

Gerst's road to Oskaloosa was similar to Wapello great Jacob Spielbauer, who played at Penn from 2004-2007. Ken Spielbauer, Jacob's father and head coach at Wapello High School, contacted Penn Head Coach John Henry to tell him of a kid that was a ‘must-have' for the Statesmen program.

"Ken told me ‘this kid will help you win 20 games a year for four years,'" Henry recalled.

Having seen, first-hand, Wapello's crop of young players, Henry was not amused by Spielbauer's comment.

"It was common knowledge that Jacob was an absolute stud for us and that the only future Penn player from Wapello HS we were planning on was his little brother Davis," Henry said. "Davis was advanced and we had targeted him at a very early age."

Ken was not talking about Davis, though, but instead about Gerst.

"Brennan was a solid baseball player at Wapello, but a star hooper, he was not," Henry said.

Four years later, Henry is grateful for that crazy phone call he received from Coach Spielbauer. Last Wednesday, Penn defeated Waldorf 95-70 to secure its 20th victory of the year. It also locked up Penn's fourth-consecutive season of at least 20 wins!!

"Coach Gerst has everything to do with our success here the past four years," Henry said. "He is as important to me and the team as any All-American player is. He does so much for the program."

"He is a selfless and tireless coach and worker," Henry added. "He handles many behind-the-scenes duties that most outsiders overlook--the scorebook, the starting lineup, laundry, equipment, foul and timeout charts, as well as most of our player development drills in practice and academic progress reports."

"Coach Gerst makes me a better coach and he makes us all winners," Henry said. "Thank you Wapello, Iowa!!!"