Yanni Hufnagel

Hufnagel, son of Joni and Thierry Hufnagel, was raised in Scarsdale, New York and is Jewish.[4][5] He played lacrosse for the Scarsdale High School Raiders, with his younger brother Alec, and was the team captain.[6][7] He was cut from Scarsdale High School's varsity basketball team as a junior and then took on a color commentating position for the team's games on a local access cable TV channel.[8][7]

He attended Pennsylvania State University for one year, where he was a defenseman on the lacrosse team.[9][7] Hufnagel then transferred to Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations in 2006.[9][1]

Hufnagel completed a summer internship with the New Jersey Nets, before attending the University of Oklahoma, where he served as a graduate assistant coach for the Sooners men's basketball team. While at Oklahoma, Hufnagel was credited with helping develop Blake Griffin.[10] At Oklahoma, Hufnagel earned a master's degree in Adult and Higher Education with an Emphasis in Intercollegiate Athletics Administration in 2010.[11][9]

In June 2009, Hufnagel joined the Harvard Crimson men's basketball program as an assistant coach and recruiter under Tommy Amaker. In 2011, he was voted by his peers in a CBS Sports survey as the mid-major assistant coach most likely to "make it big time due to his recruiting ability."[12] He was named to a CBS Sports college basketball "dream team" of assistant coaches prior to the 2012-13 season and labeled as "one of the most relentless and energetic recruiters in the game."[13] He is also noted for his role in helping to develop Jeremy Lin and Wesley Saunders at Harvard.[14] In Hufnagel’s four years with Harvard, the school went 90-30 and in his final season, Harvard upset New Mexico in the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.[1][15]

Hufnagel was appointed to coach the Team USA Youth Team at the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel, but declined to accept an assistant coaching position with the Vanderbilt Commodores.[16]

In May 2013, Hufnagel joined the Vanderbilt Commodores coaching staff as an assistant coach under Kevin Stallings.[17] He was credited by ESPN with helping Vanderbilt land the 29th-ranked 2014 recruiting class, which included Wade Baldwin IV and Matthew Fisher-Davis.[18][19] After one season, Hufnagel left the program.[20]

In 2014, Hufnagel joined the California Golden Bears coaching staff, led by Cuonzo Martin. Hufnagel is credited with helping persuade Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb to join the team. The pair helped lead the Golden Bears to a 2016 NCAA Tournament berth.[21][22]

In 2015, a reporter covering the Golden Bears filed a sexual harassment complaint against Hufnagel, claiming that after she rejected his advances, he ceased giving her information, resulting in her losing her job.[23][24][25][26][27] She also alleged that Hufnagel repeatedly propositioned her for a three-way, which he admitted. In retaliation, he fed her false information.[28] Following an investigation, Hufnagel was fired for violating UC Berkeley's sexual harassment.[29]

On April 8, 2016, Hufnagel accepted an assistant coaching position with Eric Musselman and the University of Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team. The hire was strongly supported by UNR President, Marc Johnson, who publicly noted that the release of hundreds of texts presented by Hufnagel's attorney should help ease concerns from students and staff about his hire.[30][31] Hufnagel and Nevada mutually parted ways after one season.[32]

In 2017, Hufnagel began the development of a beverage brand, Lemon Perfect. The brand is based on building a "better for you" lemon based beverage products. [33]

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