BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Bowling Green State University women's basketball head coach Fred Chmiel has announced the addition of Ethan Gelfand to his staff. Gelfand joins the Falcons as the program's Director of Operations.

Gelfand has a wealth of experience in the field, having spent five years as the women's basketball director of operations at Central Michigan before an eight-year stint in the same role at Penn State. Chmiel was on the coaching staff at PSU during Gelfand's first three years, while BGSU women's basketball staff members Zhaque Gray and Maggie Lucas were on the roster.

"Ethan is a fantastic addition to our staff," said Chmiel. "He has great experience in the DOBO position and is a tireless worker who will bring excellence to everything he does. We are thrilled to welcome Ethan and his family to our program and our community."

Gelfand, as mentioned, was at Penn State for eight years, beginning with the 2011-12 season. He was responsible for a variety of administrative duties, including coordinating team travel, overseeing the operation of student managers and opponent scheduling. He also handled the logistics of the Lady Lions' summer camps.

Gelfand and Chmiel were together on the Penn State staff for three seasons (2011-12 through 2013-14), with Gray on the '11-12 team and Lucas on the court for all three of those seasons. During that time, the Lady Lions went a combined 76-21, including a 40-8 mark in conference play, and won the Big Ten championship in all three years.

"I couldn't be more excited to work with Coach Chmiel," said Gelfand. "There are very few people in this game that can match Fred's fire, energy and passion. It's exciting to see the heights to which he can take this great Bowling Green program, and I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of it."

Gelfand joined the Penn State program after five seasons (2006-07 through 2010-11) as the director of basketball operations at CMU. While with the Chippewas, he was responsible for travel coordination, practice and game day management, community outreach and the ordering and distribution of apparel and equipment. He also supervised the women's basketball student personnel, and was responsible for scheduling CMU's non-conference schedule.

Additionally, Gelfand served in the role of video coordinator where he organized the team's film exchange and prepared scouting reports and other video projects for the women's basketball staff. He also served as the camp director for the Chippewas' summer camp programs.

Gelfand worked with head coach Sue Guevara during his last four years at CMU. In that time, the Chippewas went from a seven-win season in 2007-08 to a 20-11 campaign in 2010-11, his final year with the program. That Chippewa club finished in second place in the MAC's West Division and won a MAC Tournament first-round game by 21 points before suffering a narrow 80-72 loss to eventual tourney champion BGSU in the second round.

Prior to his arrival in Mount Pleasant, Gelfand was a manager for the Wake Forest men's basketball team, including a stint as the head manager in 2005. As the head manager, he oversaw a staff of eight managers that assisted in logistics of practice and game operations.

A native of Brookline, Mass., Gelfand served as a Red Sox replay ambassador for three summers. Gelfand received his bachelor's degree in communication from Wake Forest University in 2006.

Gelfand and his wife, Kiersten, have a daughter, Addison (10) and son, Brady (7), and reside in Perrysburg.

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