Jim Dwyer knew something was up.
On April 10, 2023, there was a campus-wide Zoom call scheduled at Cardinal Stritch.
Dwyer, the men’s volleyball coach, was looking forward to working with a strong recruiting class that included his younger brother Luke. But the rest of the athletic department was worried.
“We thought there were three possible outcomes,” Jim Dwyer said. “It could have been an unfortunate death of someone high up at Stritch. It could have been our president stepping down. Or the school was closing.
“I said, ‘Man, I really like our president, but I hope that he’s stepping down.’’’
Well, it was the third option. The Wisconsin university was indeed shuttering, which set off a series of big-time changes for the Dwyers, both of whom played at Brother Rice.
Shortly after Jim got the bad news, Luke was awakened from a nap to find out his college choice was no longer an option.
Although that fateful announcement caused plenty of shock and anxiety in the Dwyer family and turned their immediate world upside down, Jim and Luke have survived and thrived.
Almost 13 months later, Jim was coaching Georgetown College in Kentucky to an NAIA national championship. He parlayed that into a Division I job as he will serve as an assistant women’s coach at Green Bay.
Luke, a setter, worked his way into the lineup at Aurora University as a freshman and racked up 496 assists to help the Spartans to an 18-10 record — the most wins in program history.
It has been a long journey in a short amount of time for both.
“I felt like it all went too fast — like it never actually happened,” Jim said of winning the national championship. “After the first day or two, I didn’t know how to celebrate.
“I really didn’t feel anything until I started bragging with my good friends a couple of weeks later. That’s when it started to sink in.”
Brother Rice’s Luke Dwyer, left, and Shauneil Nelson, who are looking for new colleges after the announcement that Cardinal Stritch is closing, get together after a match on Friday, April 21, 2023. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
He said Georgetown didn’t have assistants, so during the four-day whirlwind national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was doing everything from arranging meals to watching film.
The seventh-seeded Tigers won four matches, including a 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10 nail-biter over St. Xavier in the semifinals. They then took the title with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 victory.
Luke was thrilled to be able to make the trip to watch his brother win the championship.
Aside from the closing of Stritch, Jim was the head women’s coach and assistant men’s coach at his alma mater Robert Morris before that program merged with Roosevelt.
“For him to be involved with two previous schools that shut down and then win it in his first season at Georgetown was insane,” Luke said of Jim.
Luke’s career since the closing of Stritch has also been on the upswing.
“I would say I was pretty lucky,” he said. “I was able to hop on at Aurora, and they gave me an opportunity. I had no idea what to expect. But within the first month, I knew that I really liked the place.”
Brother Rice’s Martin McKee is also scheduled to return for AU, and Shauniel Nelson is transferring in from Viterbo. Luke Dwyer and Nelson were teammates in 2023 as the Crusaders qualified for the state quarterfinals.
Jim will start his new job in Green Bay coaching a team with former Marist standout Ellie Kurpeikis and her sister Jessica, an incoming freshman.
“I always wanted to coach at the Division I level, whether it’s men’s or women’s volleyball,” Jim said. “I loved being in Wisconsin at Cardinal Stritch.
“We have some players from the area, so I’m excited about that.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
