Sahratian will coordinate strength and conditioning for men's basketball and
several other sports yet to be determined. He worked with Carolina head
coach Roy Williams in Lawrence from January 1999 to April 2003. This past
year, he worked with KU coach Bill Self and also coordinated volleyball,
swimming and diving.
"Jonas is a good fit for Carolina athletics," says Jeff Connors, UNC's
Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning. "He is well
respected for his work at Kansas. Our department is going through some
restructuring that will allow us to better serve our student-athletes and
give the staff in our division better support."
A native of Detroit, Mich., Sahratian graduated from Western Michigan
University in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree in exercise science. In
2000, he received his master's in exercise physiology from Kansas.
In addition to working with Kansas athletics, Sahratian interned for two
years at the Chicago Bulls/Vermeil¹s Sports and Fitness in Deerfield, Ill.
He worked there during the Bulls' NBA championship seasons in 1996-97 and
1997-98.
Sahratian is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the
National Strength and Conditioning Association and a certified club coach
through USA Weightlifting.
"I am excited to be taking this next step in my career,² says Sahratian. "I
enjoyed working with Coach Williams and his staff when they were at Kansas
and it will be nice to reunite with them in Chapel Hill. I appreciate the
opportunity Coach Self gave me here this past year. Both schools have
tremendous programs."
McKinney concludes his three-year tenure as the men's basketball strength coach at UNC at the end of the second summer session. He is moving to his wife's home area of Minneapolis and will be the new strength coach for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.
(UNC Athletic Communications contributed to this report. Photo courtesy speedcity.com)