Cincinnati men’s basketball head coach Wes Miller has announced that veteran coach and administrator Bill Comar has been hired as the program’s Chief of Staff.
“Bill Comar is a tremendous addition to our program,” Miller said. “He has a tremendous amount of experience in college basketball and has filled a variety of roles throughout his career. I don’t think there is anyone more prepared to be our Chief of Staff than Bill. I’m excited to welcome him and his family to Cincinnati.”
Comar, who has been a part of programs that have made 18 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA Tournament berths, spent the last three seasons at Ball State as special assistant to the head coach, first under James Whitford and the past two seasons under Michael Lewis. Comar, who has worked with three teams who have advanced to the Elite Eight, had direct oversight of all-non coaching personnel within the Ball State program and managed relationships with academics, compliance, financial aid, housing, business office, scheduling, and equipment, in addition to athletics and the university as a whole.
He also has worked with some of the most respected head coaches in college basketball including Archie Miller (Indiana), Herb Sendek (Miami), Charlie Coles (Miami), Oliver Purnell (Dayton), Thad Matta (Xavier), Sean Miller (Xavier) and Jim Whitesell (Loyola Chicago).
Prior to working at Ball State, he was part of staff at Indiana that recruited three straight Indiana Mr. Basketball recipients and had three straight winning seasons surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
At Dayton (2011-17), his efforts helped a program earn four NCAA Tournament bids and three seasons of national rankings. The 2014 squad advanced to the Elite Eight and the program won back-to-back Atlantic 10 titles in 2016 and 2017.
Comar also was on the UD staff from 1998-01 overseeing the operations of the program and serving as an assistant coach. Among the accomplishments during his tenure, the Flyers earned their first national ranking since 1974 during the 2000-01 season and first NCAA Tournament berth in 10-years.
During his time at Xavier as director of operations from 2001-08, the Musketeers made six NCAA Tournament appearances, won four conference regular season championships, three conference tournament titles and two Elite Eight appearances. In addition, the program saw David West capture NCAA Player of the Year honors in 2003.
Comar also served as an assistant coach at Loyola-Chicago (2008-09) and began his career in administration at Miami (Ohio) before moving over to a role coordinating the team’s academics. He spent over a year as the director of strategic development for Pro Camps Worldwide (2009-10), which assists professional athletes and high-profile college coaches with the development of their personal sports camps and related events.
The Wilmette, Ill. native played three seasons of college basketball at Kenyon (Ohio) College. He starred as a prep at New Trier (Ill.) High School. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon in 1993 and with a master’s degree from Miami in 1995.
He and his wife, Liz, have two daughters, Camille and Emily.
https://gobearcats.com/news/2024/6/27/comar-named-mens-basketballs-chief-of-staff.aspx