Jack Hervert is on the move.
Bob Wellenstein is on cloud nine.
And Waukesha County鈥檚 coaching carousel was cranked to warp speed in the past 72 hours.
Hervert, who led Catholic Memorial鈥檚 girls basketball team to one of the most successful seasons in school history last winter, resigned from that position Monday to become the head coach at Brookfield Central.
Just 24 hours later, Bob Wellenstein 鈥 who was Hervert鈥檚 lead assistant at CMH 鈥 was hired to run the Crusaders鈥 program.
Now, Hervert will try rebuilding a Central program that鈥檚 fallen on hard times, while Wellenstein will try to keep a good thing going at CMH.
"I鈥檓 never really surprised by anything, but when you鈥檙e told about something by an eighth grade parent at a restaurant, it鈥檚 a little surprising," CMH athletic director Matt Bergan said. 鈥淟oyalty is always huge with me and that didn't necessarily happen here.鈥
Hervert鈥檚 move, which started this chain reaction, was a surprise to all parties 鈥 even Hervert himself.
Hervert spent just two years at CMH, but led the program to one of its most successful seasons ever in 2023-24.
The Crusaders went 24-4 and set a single-season school record for wins since joining the WIAA. Catholic Memorial finished second in the Classic 8 Conference and came within one game of its first state tournament appearance since 2005.
Hervert, who has made a handful of coaching stops during a highly-successful 40-year career that includes 708 career wins and more than 1,000 games on the bench, was excited about the Crusaders鈥 future when last season ended.
But Hervert goes back more than three decades with Brookfield Central athletic director Don Kurth to a time when they coached track and field together at Franklin. So when former Central coach Sean Augustyn resigned, Kurth targeted Hervert.
鈥淛ack and I have a lot of history together,鈥 Kurth said. 鈥淎nd if you have a chance to get him, it鈥檚 a no brainer.鈥
After spending a few days last week contemplating his future 鈥 a period Hervert called 鈥渃omplete torture鈥 鈥 he decided to make the move to Central.
鈥淚f the timing of this was different, I鈥檇 still be the coach at Catholic Memorial,鈥 Hervert said. 鈥淚 loved it there. I loved the people, the families and it was one of the best coaching experiences of my life. But I knew if I didn鈥檛 take this job now, I wouldn鈥檛 get this chance again.鈥
Hervert will have his work cut out for him rebuilding a Central program that鈥檚 gone just 10-40 the last two years and has seen its participation numbers plummet. But the Lancers have a history of success that Hervert believes he can re-create.
Central went to two state tournaments and won five Greater Metro Conference titles under Dan Wandrey between 1998-2014. Mallory Liebl then won 68.4% of her games and five regional titles between 2014-2022.
鈥淚 know the potential of that community,鈥 Hervert said. 鈥淚 know what can be done with the number of kids that are fired up about playing basketball. So to tap into that resource is a wonderful opportunity.
鈥淚 really felt there was one more challenge out there for me, to get a program to where they鈥檙e going to compete for a conference championship every year. I think we can do that and that played a big role in why I took the position.鈥
Ironically, Wellenstein was a finalist for the Brookfield Central job. When that job went to Hervert, though, Bergan moved quickly and promoted Wellenstein from within.
鈥淛ack did a great job for us, but we were lucky to get a guy who I just love,鈥 Bergan said of Wellenstein. 鈥淏ob will keep this thing rolling.鈥
Wellenstein, a 1979 graduate of Marquette High School, is a well-known and extremely popular figure in the youth basketball world. Wellenstein has coached at St. John Vianney since 1999, led four different eighthgrade teams to championships at the Padre Serra Tournament, and had two of his three daughters play at Brookfield Central.
Wellenstein, who is nearing retirement, joined Hervert鈥檚 staff last year and is thrilled to have the chance to run his own program.
鈥淭he timing of it all was certainly a surprise,鈥 said Wellenstein, a close friend of Hervert鈥檚. 鈥淏ut the way it all worked out, I鈥檓 very excited.
鈥淐MH is a wonderful institution. I feel like we have a network established over there, and the people are great to deal with. I certainly know the players and I鈥檒l have a chance to put my own stamp on it.鈥
Wellenstein moved quickly to retain assistant coach Bob Wissing and add Dave Von Rueden 鈥 a former athletic director and varsity coach at Brookfield Academy 鈥 to his staff. Interestingly, those three all played together at Marquette High 4 1/2 decades ago.
鈥淲e got the band back together, which is certainly exciting,鈥 Wellenstein said. 鈥淛ack did a fantastic job, and I was very grateful that he gave me the opportunity to coach with him. Now, we hope to build on what Jack started here.鈥
鈻 On deck: Hamilton will conduct interviews for its vacant girls basketball opening on May 1 and hopes to announce a new head coach by May 3.
Hamilton went 37-54 under Craig Machut between 2021-24 before he turned the team over to assistant coach Aaron Akers with four weeks left last season. Hamilton had posted 11 straight winning seasons, highlighted by four GMC titles, prior to Machut鈥檚 arrival.
