Camp Staff

An 11-year veteran as an assistant coach at Drexel and Lafayette, John O'Connor joined the Georgia Tech's men's basketball program as director of operations in April of 2004 and was made an assistant coach in June of 2005.

"John is an outstanding basketball coach whom I have known since my first year at Villanova University," said Hewitt. "I am delighted that he is a part of our staff at Georgia Tech."

"I'm excited for the opportunity to be at Georgia Tech and work for Paul Hewitt," said O'Connor. "He has built this program into one of the best in the country, and I am thrilled to be a part of it."

The 47-year-old O'Connor began his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant at Drexel after spending one year as an administrative assistant at Villanova (1992-93). O'Connor spent eight seasons at Drexel (1993-2001) before taking an assistant coaching position at Lafayette for the last three seasons (2001-04).

In his eight seasons at Drexel, O'Connor helped guide the Dragons to three NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT berths, and Drexel played in five America East Conference championship games.

He spent three of his eight years at Drexel as the top assistant coach, and two of his three seasons at Lafayette in that position. He has also helped develop 30 all-conference players.

O'Connor graduated from Penn State University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education, and also earned a teaching certificate there.

The Philadelphia, Pa., native is married to the former Fay McColl.

Peter Zaharis, who spent four years as Georgia Tech's director of basketball operations, was promoted to assistant coach in April of 2004, filling the position left vacant when Dean Keener was named head coach at James Madison.

This is Zaharis' third college assistant coaching assignment, having spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Villanova and one at New York University. He has helped coach three teams to post-season play, including Tech's NCAA second-round appearance in 2005.

"Peter is a bright basketball coach with a great future, and he does a tremendous great job," said head coach Paul Hewitt. "He is very well organized and has done a lot of things behind the scenes for us that are important to everyone in our program - players, coaches as well as administrators. He is an outstanding recruiter and floor coach for us."

Zaharis joined the Villanova staff as administrative assistant in 1996-97, when Hewitt was in his final year on the Wildcats' staff. He became an assistant coach beginning with the 1997-98 season through 1999-2000.

In his three seasons as an assistant coach, Villanova went 53-41 with a pair of 20-win seasons with one appearance each in the NCAA Tournament and NIT.

Zaharis began his coaching career in 1992 on the high school level, spending three years as an assistant coach at Holy Trinity High School in New York.

From there, Zaharis made the jump to the collegiate level, earning a spot as an assistant coach at NYU. While at his alma mater, he handled recruiting, scouting, and assisted in the planning of practices. In addition, he served as the head coach of the junior varsity program. During his tenure at NYU, the Violets advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Zaharis earned his bachelor's degree in 1987 from NYU and then added his MBA from the school in 1989. Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Zaharis worked for five years at Citibank in New York City as a financial analyst.

A native of Jamaica, N.Y., Zaharis is married to the former Ritsa Demetriades, and lives in Atlanta.

Former Georgia Tech basketball player Willie Reese is in his second year as director of operations for the Tech basketball program following six seasons as an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets. Reese is responsible for team travel and numerous other administrative duties for the basketball program.

"The greatest thing Willie brings to our program is that he is a constant reminder of what Georgia Tech is all about," said head coach Paul Hewitt. "He is a graduate from here and played on some of the best teams in Tech history."

As a coach, Reese was instrumental in the development of center Luke Schenscher, who came from Australia in 2001 as a raw, skinny 214-pounder and has progressed into one of the nation's most reliable pivotmen, and was a key factor in recruiting the players that have brought the Yellow Jackets' program back to national prominence.

Before returning to Georgia Tech to join Bobby Cremins' staff for the 1999-2000 season, Reese spent the previous five years as the head coach at Landmark Christian Academy, compiling an 87-35 record and a .713 winning percentage at the Atlanta private school.

Under Reese's direction, Landmark Christian improved from a 3-18 record during his first season in 1994-95, when he became just the second coach in the school's history, to a 24-3 mark and the subregion championship in his second year. After that first season, Reese won nearly 79 percent of his games, compiling a four-year mark of 84-23. Two of Reese's players earned Division I scholarships in Greg Clark, who signed with Chattanooga, and Leigh Gayden, a member of the 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Terrific Ten" who signed with Tennessee Tech.

Also the cross country coach at Landmark Christian, Reese guided his squad to state titles in 1995 and 1996. He was named the region and state Coach of the Year for cross country in 1996 by the Georgia Athletic Coaches' Association as well as the Atlanta Track Club's cross country Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

Reese was recruited to the Tech program by Cremins in 1984 and was redshirted during the Rambling Wreck's 1984-85 Atlantic Coast Conference championship season. He went on to earn four letters as a frontcourt reserve from the 1985-86 through 1988-89 seasons, helping the Jackets compile a four-year record of 85-42 while earning four trips to the NCAA Tournament. During his career, Reese played with many of the great names in Tech annals, including Mark Price, John Salley, Bruce Dalrymple, Duane Ferrell, Tom Hammonds and Dennis Scott.

Named the basketball team's outstanding scholar-athlete his junior and senior years, Reese earned a bachelor's degree in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech in 1989. After graduation, he spent five years in private business before beginning his coaching career in 1994.

Reese, who attended Carver High School in Atlanta, and his wife, Subrina, reside in Jonesboro and have a son, Willie, and a daughter, Jasmine.