Julian Swartz joined the staff of the Milwaukee men’s basketball program in the Summer of 2025.
Swartz, a veteran of over 20 years in the coaching profession, was named the Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
“We are thrilled to be adding Julian to our program,” head coach Bart Lundy said. “He is a Wisconsin native and a seasoned veteran in the business. His experiences as a player and a coach will add to all the areas of our program. Julian has a humble demeanor and fits perfectly with our staff.”
Swartz has many ties to the area as both a coach and as a player, dating back to when he was named the 1999 Associated Press Wisconsin Player of the Year at Waukesha South High School.
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Lundy and Milwaukee for this wonderful opportunity and am excited to help the program pursue excellence in all areas,” Swartz said.
Swartz’s coaching career spans 20+ years, including 14 years at the NCAA Division I level, most recently at Georgia Tech (2016-23) where he was on Josh Pastner's staff, spending one season as the director of basketball operations before being elevated to assistant coach.
One of two members of head coach Pastner's staff at Memphis to follow him to Georgia Tech, Swartz arrived at Georgia Tech in May of 2016 after four years with Pastner at Memphis. During his time at Memphis, the Tigers compiled a 92-44 overall record while transitioning to the American Athletic Conference from Conference USA.
Prior to Memphis, Swartz spent three years as a graduate assistant at Marquette (2005-08) with head coach Tom Crean and one as an intern at Indiana (2008).
From 2009-12, he served as a counselor in the West Allis/West Milwaukee school district, counseling kids and teaching character education, while also serving two separate stints as an assistant coach for the Waukesha South High School varsity hoops squad (2003-05, 2009-11) along with coaching youth basketball (2009-12).
A native of Waukesha, Wis., Swartz graduated from Carroll College in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He earned his master's degree in school counseling in 2008 from Marquette, which made him the recipient of the 2016 Marquette University Alumni Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology Achievement Award.
A highly-successful high school player, Swartz scored 2,123 points in his career at Waukesha South to break the county scoring record. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021 and received one of the highest honors when he had his No. 42 jersey get retired by the Blackshirts in February of 2024.
A three-time First-Team All-State selection and the 1999 AP Wisconsin High School Player of the Year, he was also named academic all-state. Swartz began his collegiate playing career at the University of Wisconsin in 1999-2000 and was a member of the Badgers squad that advanced to the 2000 NCAA Final Four.
