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Sports

Kennesaw State Introduces Basketball Coach

Lewis Preston says he got his doctorate in basketball tactics from Billy Donovan at Florida.

In front of a large crowd on the floor of the Convocation Center on Tuesday, Kennesaw State Athletic Director Vaughn Williams formally introduced Lewis Preston, the fourth head men’s basketball coach in program history.

Preston expressed his excitement at getting the opportunity to be a head coach for the first time. He comes to Kennesaw after having been an assistant most recently at Penn State and prior to that at Florida, Notre Dame and Coastal Carolina.

Preston has been accustomed to success throughout his career as an assistant coach, having been part of staffs that have won NCAA and NIT championships, at Florida and Penn State respectively, and has coached in a total of five NCAA Tournaments. He mentioned each of the head coaches he has worked under in his opening speech, but gave special praise to Florida’s Billy Donovan.

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“I got my Ph.D. in X’s and O’s from Billy Donovan,” said Preston, which is big praise and should excite Owl faithful that the new offensive scheme could resemble something akin to Donovan’s championship teams.

Preston made it clear to those in attendance that there is no question that similar triumphs can be obtained at Kennesaw State. With the current Owls roster in attendance, he spoke directly to them as well as the crowd.

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“I want to make sure we all realize that we will all work very, very, hard as a team to get to where we want to go,” said Preston. “All of our players will have to understand that we are on a journey, but when we’re cutting down nets, we will know why we worked as hard we did.”

As someone who is new to the area, Preston said he understands that it will be extremely important to focus recruiting efforts in the Atlanta area, one of the top areas in the country for high school basketball talent.

“This area is a real hotbed for talent, and it will be important for myself and my staff to understand that and take advantage of that,” said Preston. “Beyond that, it will also be extremely important to set our sights all across the south, into the Carolinas and beyond.”

Preston mentioned that he felt it important to build natural rivalries, and said that he would begin talks with Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia to get future games scheduled. He also said that he would definitely call in some favors to his old bosses to see about adding Florida, Notre Dame and Penn State as well.

Preston knows a thing or two about coaching top talent, as he coached four All-Americans in Florida’s Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Taurean Green and Corey Brewer, four of the nine future NBA players he has coached during his career. He has coached a total of 19 all-conference selections during his four stops along his journey to Kennesaw.

Also significant, he coached Lee Humphrey, who was not only an essential part of Florida’s national championship in 2007, but was also an Academic All-American honoree that season. For Preston, the academic performance of his student athletes will be of the utmost importance.

“Starting today, I will hold very high expectations for our student-athletes in how they perform in the classroom. They will be expected to take academics very seriously, and they will be held accountable for their performance,” he said.

Helping Preston to recruit future student athletes, the new Owls head coach will hire a staff of three assistants. He hopes to have those coaches hired in the next seven to 14 days and plans to hire those who have both high school and college coaching experience and can recruit well in the southeast, particularly Atlanta.

When that staff is in place, Preston and the newly hired will begin putting a game plan into place. Preston said he has watched two to three films of the current Kennesaw State team, saying that the current group “isn’t too far off” from where he wants them to be from a X’s and O’s standpoint.

Preston plans to move the ball up and down the court quickly, and wants scoring to be high. “Whether it’s in primary or secondary,” said Preston, his team will score in transition.

Coach Preston steps in for Tony Ingle, who was at the helm of the Owls program for 11 seasons.

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