Steve Konchalski

Stephen J. "Steve" Konchalski is an American-Canadian basketball coach who has been serving as head coach of the St. Francis Xavier University men's basketball team since 1975. He was the head coach of the Canadian men's national team from 1995 to 1998.

Career

A native of Elmhurst, New York,[1] Konchalski played at Archbishop Molloy High School[2] before embarking on a college career in Canada in 1962.[3] He guided Acadia University to its first ever national title in the CIAU in 1965, setting single game highs 41 points and 17 field goals,[4] while being presented with the Jack Donohue Trophy as the tournament Most Valuable Player.[5] His career 1,479 points were more than any player had scored in the history of the program when he left.[6] Konchalski graduated from Acadia in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts and subsequently enrolled at Dalhousie Law School.[2]

He worked as assistant coach at Loyola College in Montreal for four years[7] and in 1975 accepted the position as head coach of the St. Francis Xavier University men's basketball team.[8] He coached the X-Men to national titles in 1993, 2000 and 2001, while receiving CIS Coach of the Year honours in 2001.[5] He was named Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Coach of the Year in 1983, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006 and coached StFX to AUS titles in 1981, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.[9] In November 2009, Konchalski became the all-time CIS leader in career wins with 736.[10]

Konchalski was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1993,[11] the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame as an athlete in 1994,[12] the St. Francis Xavier University Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 2001[13] and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.[14] In 1999, he was the recipient of the Frank Baldwin Award for dedication to basketball in Nova Scotia.[15]

In 2010, he received the Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award, which is being given to an "individual who has made an outstanding contribution to university sport as demonstrated by long-term commitment and leadership as a coach at the local, provincial, national and/or international levels of Canadian university sport."[16]

In November 2017, in honor of Steve Konchalski, the main gymnasium at the StFX Oland Centre was named "Coach K Court".[17] In March 2019, it was announced that he would retire in 2021 and that Tyrell Vernon had been hired to serve as an associate coach before taking over the head coaching job for the 2021-22 season.[3]

National team

Konchalski was named assistant coach of the Canadian Men's National Team in 1973 and had that job until 1988, including the Olympic Games in 1976, 1984 and 1988, serving under Jack Donohue.[18]

He served as head coach of the Canadian Men's National Team from 1995 to 1998[11] and later became a mentor coach with Canadian Junior National Teams, including the U19 squad that won gold at the 2017 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.[19]

References
  1. Jacobson, Joel. "'Coaching is still fun' – backyardsports.ca". Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  2. "St. Francis Xavier University Athletics". St. Francis Xavier University Athletics. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  3. Mar 15, Richard Woodbury · CBC News · Posted; March 15, 2019 1:27 PM AT | Last Updated. "Hoops legend Steve Konchalski plans to make most of last two years with X-Men | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  4. "Acadia - CIS National Champions - Acadia Athletics". www.acadiaathletics.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  5. "Past Awards - U SPORTS - English". en.usports.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  6. "Stephen J. Konchalski- 1966". acadiahof.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  7. "End Zone: Meet Canada's legendary Coach K". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  8. "Year 40: Coach Steve Konchalski still going strong with X-Men". The Chronicle Herald. 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  9. "Atlantic University Sport (AUS)". www.atlanticuniversitysport.com. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  10. "Konchalski records most wins in CIS history". www.thecasket.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  11. "Steve Konchalski—Coach Induction Class of 1993" (PDF). basketball.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  12. "Stephen J. Konchalski- 1966". acadiahof.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  13. "Coach K honoured at CIS annual awards". StFX University. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  14. Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame (2010-07-21), Steve Konchalski Induction 2007 Part 1, retrieved 2017-09-10
  15. "Steve Konchalski". X-Men Basketball. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  16. "Konchalski earns CIS recognition". www.thecasket.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  17. "Tigers build up early lead and defeat X-Men". St. Francis Xavier University Athletics. 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  18. "Grange: Donohue's influence still being felt - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  19. "Darling, Wigginton celebrate world championship with Team Canada". Local Xpress. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
Preceded by
Ken Shields		 Canada men's national basketball team head coach
1995–1998		 Succeeded by
Jay Triano


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