StFXÕs Coach Konchalski chasing 800th career victory
Antigonish, NS—StFX men’s basketball head coach Steve Konchalski is two victories away from hitting another coaching milestone, his 800th career win.
Currently at 798 career victories (regular season, playoffs and non-conference), Coach Konchalski, or ‘Coach K’ as he is more affectionately known, is poised to potentially reach this next plateau this weekend. StFX hosts a pair of home games and should the CIS ranked No. 2 X-Men be fortunate to win both matches, the veteran head coach, currently in his 37th season, could reach 800 wins on Saturday afternoon. StFX hosts the UNB Varsity Reds Friday evening at 8:00 pm and again Saturday at 4:00 pm at the StFX Oland Centre.
Coach K has spent all of his 36 seasons behind the helm of the X-Men, and currently has an all-time overall career coaching record of 798 wins and 410 losses, coaching in over 1200 CIS games. He is currently the winningest coach in CIS history, as he surpassed former Brandon University head coach Jerry Hemmings’ 734 win mark in November, 2009.
He has led the X-Men to 14 appearances at the CIS championship and has won three national titles (1993, 2000 and 2001). His X-Men have made 35 consecutive AUS playoff appearances and won nine AUS championship titles. Coach K was named the 2001 CIS Coach of the Year, has been honored as AUS Coach of the Year on six occasions, and in 2010 received the CIS Jean-Marie DeKoninck Coaching Excellence award.
Konchalski’s 2011-12 X-Men have been ranked second in the nation since the season opened and are undefeated in both conference and non-conference play with a 16-0 record, sitting atop the AUS conference.
Outside of his StFX coaching experience, Konchalski served as the Canadian national team head coach for four years (1995-98) and assistant coach for 16 years (1973-1988), participating in three Olympic Games (1976, 1984, and 1988). He is currently an advisor to the national team program as a member of the Basketball Canada Council of Excellence.
As a player, Konchalski led Acadia University to a national title in 1965 where he was named tournament MVP. A native of Elmhurst, NY, Coach K has been inducted into the StFX Sports Hall of Fame (2008, 2001), Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame (2007), Acadia Sports Hall of Fame (1994), Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame (1993) and was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Frank Baldwin Memorial Award for dedication to basketball in Nova Scotia in 1999.
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