Mad Ants announce basketball staff additions for 2022-2023 season

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 – The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the NBA G League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers, have announced their new and returning basketball operations staff members for the 2022-2023 season.

Returning to their roles will be Chris Taylor (General Manager), Tim Brown (Assistant General Manager), Tom Hankins (Head Coach), Ayami Sato (Head Athletic Trainer) and Erik Huddleston (Head Sports Performance Coach).

Hankins will welcome three new assistant coaches to his staff in Dylan DeBusk, Justin Wetzel and James Cambronne.

Dylan DeBusk has spent the last two seasons as the Video Coordinator for the Indiana Pacers. His background in the NBA G League is rich, dating back nine years. His last NBA G League role was as the Interim General Manager for the Northern Arizona Suns. DeBusk was with the Suns from 2016-2019, also handling roles with the Phoenix Suns from 2017-2020 and also in 2016 as a Basketball Operations Intern. Prior to his time with that organization, DeBusk spent two seasons with the Bakersfield Jam and was an intern with the Iowa Energy.

Justin Wetzel comes to the Mad Ants after a season as an Assistant Coach for the Capital City Go-Go; Wetzel has also spent time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Wisconsin Herd. Wetzel has coached on multiple levels since 2002, including being the head coach at Dickinson State University from 2014-2017. Wetzel is the founder of the Native American & Indigenous Basketball Coaches Association.

James Cambronne will serve as both an Assistant Coach and Video Coordinator. Cambronne was most recently an Assistant Video Coordinator with the New York Knicks. Before that, he was a Grad Assistant at the University of Georgia. A former college and professional basketball player, Cambronne spent four years playing internationally in Argentina, Spain and in the United Kingdom.

Maria Witte joins the staff as the Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist. Witte is a former college soccer player at St. Cloud State University. She earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Northwestern University this past Spring. She joins Ayami Sato on our Athletic Training Team with a wealth of experience in the athletic field already, most recently as the Team Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Union of the AUDL (American Ultimate Disc League)

Shannon Norton will serve as the Mad Ants/Fever Operations Coordinator. She has been serving as the Operations and Equipment Manager for the Indiana Fever since April of this year. Norton played college basketball at Emerson College where she still holds school records for assists and three point percentage. After her playing career, Norton transitioned to coaching at CalTech and Emerson. Norton will assist with the Mad Ants during the NBA G League season and also continue with the Indiana Fever during the WBNA season.

Steve Miknis joins the Mad Ants as a Part-Time Coaching Associate, in part assisting the coaching staff with various video breakdowns. He was last an Assistant Coach for Glen Luss Glasgow Rocks in the British Basketball League and Pennfield High School in his home state of Michigan.