VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats have hired Trevor Banks as an assistant coach, it was announced today. Banks comes to Villanova from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where he served in a similar role for three years.

"We are very excited about adding Trevor to our staff," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "He brings a dynamic personality that our student-athletes will benefit from on a daily basis. His high level of professionalism in regard to player development, recruiting and administrative duties will be a huge asset to our program. We are lucky to have him.

"Additionally, Coach Banks will train our goalkeepers and be able to continue the growth shown under Coach (Zach) Thornton over the past two seasons. He has a strong passion for training and development, so our goalkeepers will benefit a great deal from his expertise."

Banks is a native of Carenco, La., who played his college soccer at Kentucky Wesleyan University from 2006-09 and also logged five seasons in the United States Soccer League. He earned a degree in Communications from Kentucky Wesleyan and added a master's degree in Education from William Woods University in 2010.

The coaching portion of Banks' career began in 2009 at William Wood University, where he worked with the goalkeepers for two seasons. He then spent a season as an assistant coach at Barry University, where he helped lead the squad to a 12-3-6 mark.

Defensive training was Banks' specialty at the Merchant Marine Academy. With Banks' help in 2014, the Mariners' defense posted a goals against average of 0.87 while also generating eight shutouts on the season. He helped lead the team to a 10-7-3 (6-2 Conference) record and an appearance in the Landmark Conference Championship match.