Northern Michigan University associate head coach Keil Ganz looks at a play during a GLIAC men's basketball game played against Michigan Tech at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The new men’s basketball coach at Northern Michigan University has quite an act to follow after previous head man Matt Majkrzak built the Wildcats into a conference power and a force to be reckoned with on the national stage.

But the new coach, Keil Ganz, knows exactly who he is following after having worked with Majkrzak on the NMU bench for a total of three seasons.

Ganz’s most recent stint at Northern ended just a year ago after he was on Majkrzak’s staff for two seasons. He had also been an assistant in Majkrzak’s first season of 2019-20.

Ganz, 37, returned to NMU in 2023 for his second stint as an assistant, and at the end of that season, was promoted to associate head coach in 2024-25.

That lasted one season before Ganz sought greener pastures at NCAA Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he served as an assistant under head coach and former TV analyst Doug Gottlieb as they helped engineer a huge turnaround for the Phoenix.

UWGB went from 4-28 overall and 2-18 in the Horizon League the previous year to 18-15 overall and 12-8 in the league last season, also rising from 11th to fifth in the standings.

“Keil is going to absolutely kill it at Northern Michigan,” Gottlieb said in an NMU Sports Information news release announcing the hire. “From the moment we met, I have been impressed by his knowledge and passion for Northern Michigan basketball.

“Working with me for the past year I have been blown away by how incredible a coach and mentor he is for our young men. Northern Michigan is in incredible hands.”

Majkrzak is leaving NMU for Division I Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference. That team has only had two winning seasons since 2006.

Majkrzak compiled a 136-73 record in seven seasons and won four GLIAC Championships — regular-season titles this season and in 2023-24, with conference tournament crowns in 2024-25 and 2022-23.

In the season just concluded, Northern recorded its most wins ever with a 28-7 overall record, Majkrzak being named GLIAC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons. Only one other time had any NMU men’s coach been named the league’s No. 1 mentor, that being Negaunee native Dean Ellis in 1993 during his 24-year tenure.

A native of Wisconsin, Ganz earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Wisconsin-Green Bay.

NMU plans to announce an introductory news conference in the next few days.