Lake Superior State men’s basketball coach Steve Hettinga has announced the addition of Joshua Kutchinski to his coaching staff for 2016-17. Kutchinski will serve as an assistant coach for the varsity team and will also take the reigns as the head coach of the junior varsity program.
A native of Baldwin, Mich., Kutchinski spent six seasons, in three separate stints, as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz. In just his second season under head coach Sam Ballard at MCC, Kutchinski helped steer the Thunderbirds to a 25-5 overall record and an NJCAA Region I Championship in 2009-10. Ballard was also named NJCAA Coach of the Year that season.
From 2009-12 Kutchinski also served as Assistant Athletic Director for Student Success at MCC where he helped guide student-athletes in developing their academic and career plans. He was responsible for grade checks, class advisement and follow-up, program implementation, and networking with faculty and staff at MCC to ensure that the nearly 500 Thunderbirds student-athletes were equipped to be successful.
Between stints at Mesa, Kutchinski spent a season as the head coach and general manager of operations for the City of Timbo, Brazil semi-pro basketball team. He then returned to his assistant coaching role with the Thunderbirds for the 2013-14 season and helped the team claim the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Championship with a 26-5 overall record. Once again, Ballard was named NJCAA Coach of the Year.
Following his high school playing days where he won three consecutive district titles with Baldwin High School, Kutchinski joined the staff as an assistant in 1997. Following back-to-back district titles as Baldwin’s assistant coach, Kutchinski began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant for the Mott Community College men’s basketball team in 2002-03. After returning to Baker College in Muskegon to finish his degree, Coach K as he is affectionately known, took over the Holton High School’s varsity program and went 51-20 in a three year span. The team also won the school’s first district title in 46 years during the 2007 season and obtained their best record since 1941 after going 17-7.
http://www.lssulakers.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/releases/20160907qj01cd
