StFX's 'Coach K' approaching wins record

ANTIGONISH, NS - StFX men's basketball head coach Steve Konchalski is approaching another milestone in his coaching career, this time at the national level. Konchalski is three wins away from surpassing Jerry Hemmings (Brandon University) as the CIS men's basketball coaching leader in overall career wins (regular season, playoffs, non-conference).

Coach Konchalski, or 'Coach K' as he is more affectionately known around the men's basketball scene, currently has an all-time overall career coaching record of 732 wins and 396 losses, coaching in over 1100 games throughout his CIS career.

Currently in his 35th season as a CIS head coach, all with StFX University, Coach K leads all active CIS coaches in overall career wins (regular season, playoffs, non-conference) and sits 3 wins behind Jerry Hemmings on the CIS all-time overall win list. Hemmings coached at Brandon University for 28 seasons and achieved 734 overall career wins. With four exhibition games left on the X-Men's upcoming pre-season schedule, Coach K is poised to break the record in the coming weeks, should the X-Men be successful on the courts.

StFX is scheduled for an exhibition road trip this weekend where they will meet OUA opponents McMaster on October 26, followed by games at Brock and Guelph on October 27 and 28. Their final pre-season exhibition game is slated for November 1 at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, while AUS regular season competition begins on November 6-7. Should Coach Konchalski break the CIS all-time career win record, plans are underway to honour his coaching milestone at the X-Men's first regular season home game following the record breaking event.

Under his tenure ship at StFX, Coach K has won three national championships (1993, 2000, 2001) and was named CIS Coach of the Year in 2000-01. He has also coached at the international level, serving 16 years as assistant coach of Canada's national team (including the 1976, 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games) and was head coach of the Canadian national team for four years from 1995-98. As a player he led Acadia University to a national title in 1965 and was named tournament MVP. A native of Elmhurst, NY, Coach K has been named to the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame, StFX Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and most recently was named as a member of Basketball Canada's Council of Excellence. In 1999 he was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Frank Baldwin Memorial Award for dedication to basketball in Nova Scotia.

Story courtesy of StFX Sports Information