The Chicago State Athletic Department announced today the hiring of Director of Equipment Operations
Tony Kladis, Director for Sports Performance for Basketball
Ryan Henry and Intercollegiate Special Projects Coordinator
Walter Woghiren.
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Kladis comes to Chicago State from the Toronto Blue Jays/Dunedin Blue Jays where he served as the home clubhouse manager since March 2019. He oversaw all aspects of equipment operations and also worked as a team attendant to the Toronto Raptors while the NBA team played its home games in Tampa due to COVID-19 border restrictions (December, 2020-February, 2021). Prior to his time in Florida, Kladis, a Chicago native, worked for the Windy City Thunderbolts (2017-19) and Chicago Fire as an events and first team operations assistant. He also worked on the ticket operations staff at the Chicagoland Speedway/Route 66 Raceway (2017-18). Tony earned a B.A. in sport management from Loyola Chicago.
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Henry has been in the fitness industry for over 18 years and joins Chicago State from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he ran his own fitness company since 2009 while also working as an assistant coach/strength and conditioning coach at Piper High School (2015-18) in Lauderhill, Florida, and American Heritage High School (2011-15) in Plantation, Florida. He graduated from the University of West Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science and played basketball for the Argonauts where he earned numerous season awards and honors as a shooting guard. Following his time at UWF, Henry started his own company and worked closely with local communities to build health and wellness programs that included training professional athletes, such as NBA players, NFL players and collegiate athletes. Henry is a certified NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist and Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant.
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Chicago State alum and former Cougars men's basketball player (2004-06)
Walter Woghiren was named Intercollegiate Special Projects Coordinator on September 16, 2021. Woghiren comes back to CSU after one season at South Suburban College (2020-21) where he assisted all aspects of the men's basketball program, including player development, travel coordination and academic assistance for student-athletes. He also served as a graduate assistant coach for Chicago State's men's basketball program (2019-20) and assistant coach for the Nike Mac Irvin Fire AAU team (2010-19). Woghiren also spent time at Harlan Community Academy (2016-19) and Ralph Ellison Charter School (2012-17) where he was the head boys varsity basketball coach for both programs but also served as the school culture coordinator at Harlan and dean of students and athletic director at Ralph Ellison. In his current role at Chicago State, Woghiren will work with coaches, administration and campus partners on facility scheduling, projects, technological needs. He will assist the director of athletics with scheduling and communications and work directly with the executive leadership team on special projects.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet.Â
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