Brian Placek, Associate Director

Coach Brian Placek comes with 17+ years coaching experience in youth and adolescent sports with student athletes ranging in age from 5-18 years old, inspiring them to step out of their comfort zone to pursue a lifelong love for exercise and competition in a positive environment.  Coach Brian is entering his 1st season as the Girls Basketball Assistant Coach at Lower Merion High School after spending five years as the Girls Basketball Assistant Coach at Harriton High School (four years with Coach Chris). 

Coach Brian’s love for teaching basketball was instilled in him at birth.  The eldest son of two successful high school head coaches from the state of Illinois, Coach Brian spent much of his childhood playing and cheering in the gyms where his parents coached.  With two younger brothers, competition, teamwork, tough love, and conflict resolution were normal day-to-day lessons he learned, which he credits for instilling in him the critical qualities of an athlete and coach: perseverance, leadership, and work ethic. 

Following a successful high school career as a point guard for his Dad’s championship-caliber teams, Coach Brian enjoyed a short stint at Cornell College (Iowa) before moving on to Southern Illinois University.  As a member of SIU’s basketball program, Coach Brian was mentored by Rich Herrin (former SIU head coach, Illinois Hall of Fame), Rodney Watson (former SIU assistant and Southern Indiana University head coach), Bruce Weber (former head coach at Kansas State University and SIU), and Matt Painter (current head coach at Purdue University and former head coach at SIU).  These gifted and genuine coaches, along with his family, showed Coach Brian how a passion for competing and the game could successfully be paired with a core focus of preparing young athletes for life after the game. 

Coach Brian is a proud girl dad to three daughters (8th grade, 5th grade, and 4th grade) and is happily married to his best friend and wife of 15 years.