A 2007 graduate of Wesleyan, where he played four seasons of basketball and served as a team co-captain as a senior, Jimmy Shepherd returns to his alma mater for the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach.  Jimmy specialized in three-point shooting during his career, setting a single-season team record in 2005-06 when he sank 69 treys for a per-game average of 3.0 per contest.  The previous team mark had been 2.92 three-pointers per game.  Jimmy finished his career with 151 three-pointers to rank fourth all-time for the Cardinals.  He amassed 649 career points, 549 of those coming during his final two seasons.  Following his graduation, Jimmy took a position in New York City with the management consulting firm of Mitchell Madison Group.  He is now pursuing his MALS through Wesleyan's Graduate Liberal Studies Program and is officially a basketball intern in the athletics department this year.

      Serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Wesleyan for the 2008-09 season, Matt Fraulino is a 2005 graduate of the University of Connecticut who also completed his coursework toward a Master's in sport management from UConn in 2008.  While an undergraduate at UConn, Matt served as a student manager for the men's basketball squad, including the Huskies' 2003-04 drive to a National Championship. He also worked in the UConn athletic communications office during the 2004-05 season with specific duties involving men's basketball.  The summer after his graduation, Matt worked as a basketball intern for the IMG Basketball Academy in Bradenton, Fla., then spent a year as personal manager for Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls.  After returning to UConn for his graduate program, Matt also began a two-year stint as a grad assistant for men's basketball through the athletics department.  This year, he took a position as coordinator of public and media relations for the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown. 

      Joining the men's basketball coaching staff in 2008-09 as a volunteer assistant, Luke Granato was a four-year member of the men's basketball team at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., before graduating in 2008.  He helped his team to two Northeast Conference runner-up seasons as a junior and senior and was a member of the college's Student Athletic Advisory Council.  Before enrolling at Sacred Heart, Luke was a standout hoops player at Northwest Catholic High School in West Harford, Conn., and was part of three state title teams (2000, 2002 and 2003).  As a senior, he earned academic all-state honors.  With experience as a counselor at several basketball camps in the state of Connecticut over the last decade, including the Reilly Basketball Camp in Wethersfield, Luke recently spent three months in Denmark playing professional basketball.