Pawel Gajdzik has been named head coach at Northern Illinois.

July 16, 2008

WACO, Texas - Baylor tennis volunteer assistant coach Pawel Gajdzik has been hired by Northern Illinois University as its head men's tennis coach the school announced today.

Gajdzik, who served as Baylor's volunteer assistant since 2002, played a key role in Baylor's success during his tenure, as the Bears advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all seven seasons, including their 2004 National Championship and runner-up finish in 2005.

In addition to assisting head coach Matt Knoll and assistant coach Kyle Spencer, Gajdzik opened the PG Tennis Academy in Central Texas, while also teaching classes at both Baylor and Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas from 2005-08. Gajdzik is currently a doctoral candidate in educational psychology from Baylor.

Gajdzik, who competed for the Bears from 1997-2000, was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Big 12 champion at No. 3 singles in 1998. A two-time Big 12 singles honoree, Gajdzik teamed with Johann Jooste to win the 2000 Big 12 title at No. 2 doubles.

With Gajdzik's hiring, three of Knoll's former assistant coaches have moved on to become collegiate head coaches. Kevin Kowalik, Knoll's first assistant coach, served head coaching stints at Wichita State and Oregon and Sam Winterbotham was head coach at Colorado and now heads up Tennessee's program. In addition, another former assistant Ryan Sachire, was recently promoted to associate head coach at Notre Dame.