Wake Forest Announces Three Hires, Three Promotions in Sports Performance, Athletic Training
3/22/2021 12:00:00 PM | Football, General
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest announced three new hires and three promotions on its athletic training and sports performance staff on Monday.
"Lindsay Gateley, Bryant Harper and Ken Knox all bring outstanding experience to Wake Forest and will be major assets to our staff and each program they are working with as we move forward," Sr. Associate AD, Athletics Health Care Administrator Murphy Grant said. "With that, Kennedy Hill, Brendan Nave and Nick Zinani have done an outstanding job with our student-athletes and coaches and are well-deserving of their promotions. I am proud to work with this group of professionals and our entire sports performance and athletic training staff."
Lindsay Gately, Asst. Athletic Trainer
Lindsay Gately joins Wake Forest from the San Francisco 49ers, where she served as a seasonal athletic trainer and physical therapist during the 2020 season. A board certified athletic trainer and physical therapist, Gately has a wide array of athletic training experience, previously working in the athletic training department at Houston Baptist while completing her sports physical therapy residency, as well interning with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Indians as seasonal trainer.
Gately earned her bachelor's degree in athletic training from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016, where she worked as a student athletic trainer. She completed her DPT from the University of Southern California in 2019.
Bryant Harper, Jr., Sports Performance Coordinator, Football
Bryant Harper Jr joins Wake Forest from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for football and head strength and conditioning coach for men's soccer and men's tennis, while also working as an assistant strength & conditioning coach for the Midshipmen's wrestling program. He previously served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Southeastern Louisiana for football and head strength and conditioning Coach for volleyball. Prior to his time at Southeastern Louisiana, he served as an administrative strength and conditioning coach with the University of Florida football team.
A former student-athlete, Harper played football at both Penn State, where he earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology movement science, and California University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his master's degree with a dual concentration in exercise science & health promotion and performance enhancement & injury prevention / rehabilitation science. He holds a certification as a certified strength and conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as well as a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) certification & Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
Ken Knox, Assistant Director Sports Performance
Ken Knox joined Wake Forest in 2021 after working as a graduate assistant strength & conditioning coach at the University of Kentucky. While in Lexington, Knox worked primarily with the Wildcats' Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Cheer, and Diving teams, while also assisting with Women's Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Gymnastics, and Baseball. Before arriving at Kentucky, Knox previously worked at his alma mater, Emory & Henry College, where he played football and baseball, as well as the University of South Carolina.
Knox holds certifications as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Athletic Trainer. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Athletic Training from Emory & Henry in 2018, and will have completed his master's in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Kentucky in May 2021.
Kennedy Hill, Assoc. Director Sports Performance
Kennedy Hill is entering his second straight season with the Wake Forest football team, after starting as a sports performance coordinator in July 2020. He previously interned with the strength and conditioning team at Wake Forest in 2019, splitting his time in Winston-Salem with a stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at North Carolina Central University, where Hill ran the strength and conditioning programs for the Eagles' softball and volleyball teams.
Hill holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Taylor University where he also played on the football team from 2013-15. He also earned a master's degree from Tarleton State in kinesiology in 2018.
Brendan Nave, Sr. Sports Performance Coordinator
Brendan Nave joined Wake Forest in 2017 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the football program, a role he served in for four seasons until his promotion to Sr. Sports Performance Coordinator ahead of the 2021 season. He previously worked at both Temple and Penn State in the school's strength and conditioning departments.
Nave earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts and sciences from Penn State in 2014, where he was a member of the Nittany Lion lacrosse team. He is a USAW Level I Sports Performance Coach and a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
Nick Zinani, Asst. Director Sports Performance
Nick Zinani earned a promotion to Assistant Director of Sports Performance after four seasons as coordinator of sports performance for football. Zinani joined Wake Forest after interning at NC State in the Wolfpack's athletic training and strength & conditioning departments
A Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Certified Athletic Trainer, Zinani earned a master's degree in sports science and athletic training from LIU Brooklyn in 2017.
