The Dakota Wizards have hired Vitaly Potapenko as the team’s assistant coach, the team announced today. Potapenko will serve under newly hired Head Coach Nate Bjorkgren for the 2011-12 season.

Potapenko brings two years of coaching experience to the Wizards, having most recently served as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers this past season. In Indiana, under Head Coach Jim O’Brien and Interim Head Coach Frank Vogel, Potapenko helped lead the Pacers to a 37-45 record and a trip to the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Prior to joining the Pacers, Potapenko served as an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League under Head Coach Joey Meyer during the 2009-10 season.

Kirk Lacob, director of basketball operations for the Warriors, has been named general manager of the Dakota Wizards.

The Warriors own the Wizards of the D-League.

Kirk Lacob is the 23-year-old son of co-owner Joe Lacob.

Kirk Lacob brought basketball and statistical smarts with out-of-the-box thinking to the Warriors' front office, according to team sources.

The Dakota Wizards, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors, will hold an Open Tryout for the upcoming 2011-12 season on Saturday, October 15, at Dream Courts in Hayward, CA, it was announced today. The tryouts are scheduled to run from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., with registration beginning at 8:00 a.m.

The participation fee to secure a spot in the tryouts is $125 if paid by September 23, and increases to $150 for applications submitted after September 23 and for walkups.

“These are the opportunities that make dreams come true,” said Jim Weyermann, President of the Dakota Wizards. “I have personally watched young players enter the various developmental leagues in basketball/baseball and end up playing for a Championship. You simply never know what you will find in an open tryout situation.”