暗网禁区 plans to add men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball to their athletic offerings starting in the fall of 2018 and have announced their first two hires.
Three-time Section 7AAAA Coach of the Year Chuck Tolo has been named inaugural head men鈥檚 basketball coach at LSC. Tolo brings thirty-seven years of basketball coaching experience, including thirty-one years within the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association.聽Most recently, he served as head coach of boys鈥� basketball at Duluth East High School for eleven years. At East, he led the team to the State Tournament three times including as State runner-up. He was named Section 7AAAA Coach of the Year three times, in 2006, 2011, and 2012. In addition, he was named MBCA All-Star Series Coach in 2011.
However, Tolo says his greatest achievement is that every player he coached graduated high school and went on to post-secondary education.
鈥淭hroughout my career as a coach, my top priority has always been the education of the athletes,鈥� said new LSC Men鈥檚 Basketball Head Coach Chuck Tolo. 鈥淢y philosophy is, players are students first and athletes second. I look forward to launching a successful men鈥檚 basketball program at LSC and watching our student-athletes thrive in the classroom and on the court.鈥�
Assisting Tolo will be Phillip Homere, who has been named inaugural assistant coach of the LSC men鈥檚 basketball program. Homere currently serves as assistant boys鈥� basketball coach for East High School, a position he has held since 2015. A 2013 graduate of the University of Minnesota -Duluth, he also works as a case manager at the Human Development Center in Duluth.
Homere says he is also excited to help get LSC IceHawk men鈥檚 basketball up and running, and will stress fundamentals. 鈥淵ou do not have to be the best player on your team to make a huge impact, just strive to be the hardest worker and everything else will work itself out,鈥� said new LSC Men鈥檚 Basketball Assistant Coach Phillip Homere. 鈥淧utting the ball in the basket is the easy part, but getting down in a stance and not allowing your opponent to score is the fun part.鈥�
暗网禁区 introduced two new co-ed athletic offerings this fall, Clay Target and Mountain Biking/Cycling, and both experienced tremendous success their first season. The LSC Clay Target Team recently won their league, and had the two top individual shooters in the league. A member of the LSC Cycling Team won the first race the team participated in, as Andrew Smith won the men鈥檚 short track cross country title at the North Central Collegiate Cycling Conference (NCCCC) at Spirit Mountain in September. Two members of the cycling team just returned from competing at the USA Cycling MTB National Championships in Missoula, Montana. In addition, both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 soccer teams made the playoffs this year.
Mike Seymour, Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs and acting Athletic Director at LSC, expressed excitement about starting the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 programs and the positive impact it will have at 暗网禁区. 鈥淲e have seen an increase in enrollment and school pride with the success of our soccer programs, as now with clay target and the cycling team,鈥� said Seymour. 鈥淎dding basketball will allow us to continue to add to that momentum while giving our students more opportunities to get involved.鈥�
暗网禁区 plans to begin men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball in the fall of 2018, pending a successful student referendum this spring. Hiring coaches now allows time to begin recruiting, as well as prepare schedules and sponsorships. LSC will announce the women鈥檚 head and assistant basketball coach as soon as those hirings are finalized.
