In 2011, Charlotte Smith was hired to take over the Elon University women’s basketball program when former head coach Karen Barefoot left to take the same job at Old Dominion University. As with any team, she could not do it all alone, so she brought in an accomplished staff of assistants. One of these assistants is Josh Wick, who brought more than a decade of coaching experience to Elon. Despite a late start into the game, Wick has become an integral part of the Elon basketball family.

Wick grew up in Florida where basketball was not the main thing.

“Soccer and baseball were, so when I got up to North Carolina I realized how passionate people were [about basketball],” he said.

He started playing basketball in fifth grade. After high school he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he took a break from basketball until he was presented with the opportunity to coach a recreational league team with a friend.

“I fell in love with it again, just caught the coaching bug,” Wick said.

While a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, Wick took over the boys’ program at Cresset Christian Academy in Durham, where he led the team for three seasons.

“I realized I wanted to coach and not teach, and got on staff with Coach [Sylvia] Hatchell at Carolina as a video coordinator for three years,” he said. “And from there I bounced around to a few other assistant spots [at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and East Tennessee State University] and now I’m back with Coach Smith and blessed to be a part of her staff.”

Wick made the transition from his natural men’s game to the women’s game before moving to the college ranks, and describes the transition as relatively seamless.

“I felt like attention to detail on the women’s side was much greater,” he said. “It’s two different ways to play the game, but I had a lot of fun with both groups.”

At East Tennessee State, the Buccaneers won two conference championships under his watch and gave Wick the opportunity to coach in the NCAA Tournament twice, which he described as “a great experience for me and for the players.”

An old friendship led Wick away from East Tennessee State and into the confines of Alumni Gym.

“I met Coach Smith at Carolina when I was on staff and she was an assistant coach and I really admired her,” he said. “We had a good friendship and we stayed in touch, and when she got this job she called me and the rest is history”.

Wick is very pleased with his current role guiding the maroon and gold.

“(Elon) is a special place,” he said. “I love that it’s an academic school and our standards are very high. The type of people who we recruit are exceptional students and exceptional people.”

Not only is Wick happy to be at Elon, his players are glad to have him.

“Coach Wick is a fun coach, he’s easy to talk to, and his specialty is that he perfects all of our shots…he’s really good at that” said sophomore forward Sam Coffer. “He’s a jokester. He’s fun, but he can also be serious when he needs to be.”

Some of that success and seriousness has arrived this season. Although the Phoenix started its season 4-7, the team had a six-game Southern Conference win streak (as of press time) that ran their record to 10-7. For Wick, he believes that much of the success is simply due to the fact that he and his fellow coaches have a year under their belts.

“Last year, it was tough to get (the team) to buy in,” he said. “New coach, new system — it’s a transition period. This year, the players will tell you they’ve bought in a little more.”

Wick is pleased with what he has seen out of his team this year and believes the sky is the limit for the Phoenix in 2013.

“I think this team is definitely a championship contender this year,” he said. “This team has what it takes to get there and to win. These kids have a great opportunity.”

While Wick’s current focus is on returning the Elon Phoenix to postseason play, he does have the aspiration of advancing his career someday as a head coach.

“More than likely. I’ve thought about it a lot over the last few years," Wick said. "Right now, to have the opportunity to learn from Coach Smith and [fellow assistant] Coach [Christy] McKinney, she was a head coach. I have a lot of coaching friends in the business and a couple coaching mentors. For me it’s the process of continuing to grow and learn. It’s such a big responsibility to be a head coach.”

Being part of a postseason trip would be significant not only for Wick, who has already been to the dance, but also for Elon overall.

“It would mean a great deal,” he said. “The SoCon is a very competitive league from top to bottom. It’s exciting for us — we try to visualize our goal”.

Wherever his career takes him, Wick still considers it amazing that he is even at this level of basketball.

“Soccer was the first sport I played and I thought I would be in love with soccer forever and ever,” he said. “But then basketball came along and really changed my perspective on things.”

Though Wick is fully committed to Elon women’s basketball, he still enjoys some time away from the gym, mostly to hit the links for a round of golf.