T.J. Ziolkowski

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TJ Ziolkowski is the son of Ann Marie Ziolkowski and the late Terry Ziolkowski, Sr. of Nanticoke. 

TJ fell in love with basketball in the 3rd grade: he attended games with his father, grandfather, and aunt, and at bedtime he heard stories about Kenny Casey. He had the opportunity to see a lot of great games and players, including the 1990 Nanticoke Girls State Championship team. As he described it, “The Trojanettes were like watching poetry in motion.” T.J. played basketball for Nanticoke in high school, where he was a member of the 95-96 Back-to-Back PIAA District 2 AAA championship team along with many individual accolades. 

T.J’s college career at Luzerne County Community College was phenomenal. He played for Coach Atherton & Coach Strothers. TJ. scored 1,369 points & 744 rebound, 2 x EPPCC All Conference & 1 x EPCC All State. He accomplished everything he dreamed about individually and signed a letter of intent with Wilkes University to play basketball for Coach Rickrode. However, on May 26, 1998 T.J.’s father passed unexpectedly, and at the end of the 1999 season his college career came to an end. In 1999 TJ’s Wilkes team won the MAC Championship & made it to the sweet 16 of NCAA Division 3 tournament. In 2020, the 1999 Wilkes University Men’s basketball team went into the Wilkes University Sports Hall of Fame. 

In 1999, T.J. started to coach at L.C.C.C with Coach Strothers, then coached boys basketball ball at Greater Nanticoke Area with Coach Bartuska. He went on to coach Nanticoke’s girls basketball with former teammate Alan Yendrzeiwski and later with Coach Ed Grant. 

Currently, T.J. is the assistant head coach of the men’s basketball team at LCCC with Coach Strothers, and next year, he will be walking the sideline as the LCCC’s women’s basketball head coach. 

T.J. has an associate’s degree from Luzerne County Community College and a Bachelor’s Degree from Marywood University. He is employed by the Luzerne County Intermediate Unit 18.

He lives in Nanticoke with his Old English Sheep dog, Harrison, and enjoys going to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. He also likes going to autograph shows, watching Nebraska Cornhusker football, and hanging out with his niece, Riley.