Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has promoted Tommy Sheppard to senior vice president of basketball operations. In addition, the team has named Marc Eversley as vice president of scouting, Frank Ross as director of player personnel, Greg Ballard as advance pro scout and Thomas Knox as director of player performance and rehabilitation while promoting Ed Tapscott to vice president of player programs, Pat Sullivan to assistant coach, Brett Greenberg to director of basketball analytics/salary cap management, Bryan Oringher to video coordinator and Ryan Richman to assistant video coordinator.
“Tommy is a very respected figure within all circles of basketball, including the NBA, international/Olympic competition and the collegiate ranks,” said Grunfeld. “His experience, combined with the additions we have made and the other well-deserved promotions within the department, gives us a solid foundation to continue improving our team.”
Sheppard is entering his 11th season with the Wizards and his 20th season in the NBA. His new role will see him take on expanded duties with salary cap management, draft preparation, college and pro talent evaluation, statistical analysis and recruitment of free agents while maintaining responsibility for the team’s day-to-day basketball operations. Sheppard spent nine seasons with the Denver Nuggets and has worked with USA Basketball for three Summer Olympic Games and the 2003 Pan American Games.
Eversley joins the Wizards after spending seven years with the Toronto Raptors, including the last two seasons as vice president of college scouting where he spearheaded all collegiate scouting, pre-draft player evaluations and workouts. He also served as the team’s assistant general manager in 2010-11 and as assistant general manager/player development prior to that. Before coming to the Raptors, he spent six years with Nike Canada.
Tapscott enters his seventh season with the Wizards and has over a quarter-century of experience in basketball, including serving as president and chief operating officer of the Charlotte Bobcats and roles as vice president of player personnel/basketball operations and interim president and general manager for the New York Knicks. He will continue to implement player programs and provide scouting for the team.
Ross, a District native and two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection at American University, served the previous six seasons as director of east coast scouting for the Oklahoma City Thunder. In that role, he was an integral part in evaluating college and international player talent. Ross served as a scout with the Charlotte Bobcats from 2003-07, evaluating college and minor league player talent.
Ballard, a member of the 1978 Bullets championship team, re-joins the Wizards organization after spending the last 19 years as a scout and coach with Atlanta (nine seasons), Minnesota (nine seasons) and Dallas (one season). Ballard played eight seasons in Washington after being selected with the fourth overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft, averaging 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 643 games before playing his final two seasons in Golden State.
Knox comes to the Wizards from the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., where he was manager of performance physical therapy. He brings over six years of experience in athlete performance, injury prevention, physical therapy and strength and conditioning training to the team, and will be responsible for designing programs for player performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Sullivan begins his first season as an assistant on Randy Wittman’s staff after serving the previous campaign as advance scout. He joined the Wizards last season after spending three seasons each as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons (2008-11) and the New Jersey Nets (2005-08). He participated in three Final Fours as a player and three as a coach at the University of North Carolina before joining the NBA coaching ranks.
Greenberg is entering his fifth season with the Wizards, most recently serving as basketball operations assistant/video coordinator. He came to the Wizards after spending the 2008-09 season with the Miami Heat as a video intern and was as a student manager for the men’s basketball team at Duke. In his new role, Greenberg will lead the Wizards’ analytical efforts while assisting with all salary cap and CBA matters.
Oringher enters his first season with the Wizards as video coordinator after serving the last two years as a video intern. He is a 2013 graduate of the University of Maryland where he was a student assistant/video intern for the men’s basketball team under Head Coach Gary Williams (2009-2011).
Richman begins his first season with the Wizards as assistant video coordinator after serving the last two seasons as a graduate assistant for the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball team. He will be primarily responsible for opponent video breakdown and assisting Oringher with all other aspects of the video department.
