Head men’s basketball coach Wayne Morgan named Michael Mennenga as the new assistant coach Tuesday, less than a week after Darryl Sharp resigned for personal reasons.

Mennenga has more than 10 years of coaching experience, spending the last five as an assistant coach at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he focused on recruiting, game preparation, academic coordination and working with post players.

“We are very, very happy and fortunate to have Mike Mennenga join our staff,” Morgan said. “I think his enthusiasm and work ethic will be a tremendous, positive influence on our program.”

“Words cannot describe how excited I feel right now,” Mennenga said in a release. “I am looking forward to working with Coach Morgan, his staff and players. Iowa State and basketball are synonymous with winning and to have the opportunity to be a part of this program is a great honor.”

While Mennenga was at Buffalo, the Bulls posted their best season in school history in 2004 with 23 victories and their first-ever post-season berth with a National Invitation Tournament appearance, losing to St. Joseph’s in the second round. They lost to Ohio at the buzzer in the Mid-American Conference championship game which would have sent them to the NCAA Tournament.

Before Buffalo, Mennenga was an assistant at the University of Maine for four seasons, helping the Black Bears set school records in wins, attendance and All-conference players. In his final season they compiled a 24-7 record.

“I think he is one of the bright, great, young assistant coaches in the country,” Morgan said. “There is no doubt in my mind that on down the line he will be a good head coach.”

Prior to working at Maine, Mennenga devised and developed the Nike SuperSoph basketball camp, featuring the Top 50 sophomores in the Midwest. At that time, he was on the Nike All-American Camp Staff, as well.

“It is a really exciting time at Iowa State right now,” Mennenga said. “They have outstanding players returning and a great recruiting class coming in.”