CAMARGO UP CLOSE

PERSONAL

Name: Wendel Camargo
Born: February 15, 1985
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
College Education: University of Paulista, Bachelor of Science, Exercise Science, 2008

PLAYING CAREER

2005-08: University of Paulista

COACHING CAREER

2009-12: Dominican Republic Women's National Team (assistant coach)
2012-14: Kansas (volunteer assistant coach)
2014-18: James Madison (assistant coach)
2018-: Texas A&M (assistant coach)

BY THE NUMBERS

5: NCAA Tournament Appearances (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019)

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Wendel Camargo was named an assistant coach of the Texas A&M volleyball program on January 18, 2018 and is entering his fifth season with the Aggies.

Camargo’s third campaign with the Aggies saw A&M finish with a .500 record in a challenging all-SEC schedule split between the fall and spring. Texas A&M set a program record in 2020-21, securing the highest ranking in program history at the No. 6 spot in the preseason edition of the AVCA Coaches Poll. Finally, Camargo played a key role in coaching A&M’s star setter, Camille Conner, to a Senior CLASS Award nomination following an impressive season of leadership both on and off the court.

In his second season with A&M in 2019, Camargo helped lead the Aggies to a 23-8 overall record and 13-5 record in conference play with a trip to the regional semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. Camargo served under 2019 SEC Coach of the Year Laura “Bird” Kuhn and helped guide Hollann Hans and Camille Conner to AVCA All-America honors., as well AVCA All-South Region and All-SEC honors.

As the offensive coordinator, Camargo worked closely with A&M’s setters and pins. Both Hans and Conner earned AVCA All-South Region and All-SEC honors, while Lauren Davis and Treyaunna Rush were named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Camargo led the Aggie offense to finish 29^th in the nation in kills and 34^th in the nation in team assists.

Camargo came to Texas A&M in January 2018 after serving four seasons as an assistant coach at James Madison University.

Similar to Kuhn’s history of impacting and transforming teams into consistent winning programs, Camargo was instrumental in the Dukes’ immediate improvement and historic accomplishments during his tenure.

The Dukes won two Colonial Athletic Association regular season titles and two CAA tournament championships with Camargo on the coaching staff. They also made two NCAA tournament appearances and went 83-38 overall, having surpassed 20 wins in each of the last three seasons.

JMU had suffered back-to-back sub-.500 seasons but experienced a significant turnaround upon Camargo’s arrival in the summer of 2014. In his first season, JMU reached the semifinals of the CAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed and finished the season 17-14 overall. In 2015, the Dukes tied for the CAA regular season championship, marking the first time JMU captured the title since 1999. In addition, the Dukes finished 22-8, topping the 20-win milestone for the first time since 2010 and equaling the most wins since 1999.

JMU not only defended its CAA regular season title in 2016 after winning the championship outright, but the Dukes swept the conference crowns by also winning the CAA Tournament. JMU, which was making its first appearance in a CAA championship match since 2002, received an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship for only the third time in program history and the first time since 2000. The Dukes finished the season 21-11 after narrowly falling to Coastal Carolina in five sets in the NCAA first round.

In 2017 JMU rallied to make its second consecutive NCAA Championship appearance as the No. 3-seeded Dukes upset No. 1 seed College of Charleston, 3-0, in the CAA Tournament championship match to earn the league’s automatic bid. JMU fell to Colorado in the first round but still finished the season 23-6 to mark the most wins since 1999.

Camargo began a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Kansas in 2012, joining Kuhn who was beginning her second season as the Jayhawks’ assistant coach. With Camargo primarily working with the liberos and defensive specialists, the Jayhawks tallied more than 1,900 digs each of his two seasons and averaged 15.9 digs per set.

In his first year, Kansas received its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005 and was awarded a No. 11 seed in the 64-team field. The Jayhawks narrowly fell 3-2 to Wichita State in the second round and finished the season, 26-7, an 11-win improvement from the 2011 season. In addition, Kansas made its first-ever appearance in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) final Top 25 Poll with a No. 25 ranking.

Kansas had another historic season in 2013 as the Jayhawks reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time and were ranked No. 17 in the final AVCA poll after going 25-8.

Prior to coaching in the United States, Camargo was a member of the coaching staff for the Dominican Republic National Team-Santo Domingo from 2009-12. He worked with the adult and junior national women’s teams, including the 2012 Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) NORCECA Olympic Qualifiers. In 2010 he helped coach the Dominican Republic to the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship, the FIVB/NORCECA Final Four Women’s Volleyball Cup and a first-place finish at the FIVB/NORCECA World Championship Qualifiers. He followed that up in 2011 by helping the team place second at the FIVB Junior Pan American Cup.

Camargo worked closely with Brenda Castillo, who was awarded Best Libero at the 2012 Summer Olympics after leading the Dominican Republic to a fifth place finish in London.

Prior to his time with the Dominican Republic National Team, Camargo coached in his home country of Brazil, including a stint in 2009 as the head coach at the University of Sao Paulo.

Camargo is married to Janaina Camargo and have two sons, Zion and Zane. He received his bachelor’s degree in exercise science with an emphasis in physical education in 2008 from University Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he also played competitively. Professionally Camargo played for COTP, Rio Branco Americana in Brazil.

August 2022