It’s a happy homecoming for Mike Lamberti as the former West Liberty University standout is returning to his alma mater as an assistant men’s basketball coach.
Lamberti replaces Brett Ervin on Coach Ben Howlett’s Hilltopper staff after Ervin departed over the summer to pursue another career opportunity.
“I stayed in touch with Mike the whole time he was coaching in Florida,” said Howlett, the reigning Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year, “and was very impressed by his commitment and dedication to the job. Brett did a great job but as a former player, Mike knows the program inside and out. He understands our system and knows the type of player we want to bring to this university. He’s an extremely intelligent young coach with great organizational and leadership skills. It has been an incredibly smooth transition.”
A Western Pennsylvania native, Lamberti spent the past two years as a graduate assistant at Embry-Riddle (Fla.) Aeronautical University. During his two seasons, he played a major role in helping the Eagles complete a successful transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II affiliation.
“I’m ecstatic to be back at West Liberty,” Lamberti said. “I’m really grateful to Coach Howlett for this opportunity. Thanks to (head coach) Steve Ridder and (assistant coach) Chad Keller, I had a great experience and learned a lot during my two years at Embry-Riddle.
“My ultimate goal is to be a head coach at the NCAA Division II level so they made sure I was exposed to every aspect of the program,” Lamberti said. “When we played Nova Southeastern, they had me do the ‘scout’ because they knew I played for Coach (Jim) Crutchfield here. We beat them and then upset (No. 10-ranked) Barry in the next game. That was a pretty good week.”
A four-year letterman at West Liberty, Lamberti played in 123 games from 2012-16, racking up more than 700 points and 400 rebounds while dishing out nearly 200 assists. The Hilltoppers had the best record in NCAA Division II (123-14, .898) during his four varsity seasons, claiming four straight conference championships and a trio of NCAA Division II Atlantic Region crowns.
They played in three NCAA Division II Elite Eight national championship tournaments – including a run to the 2014 NCAA Division II national championship game, dropping an 84-77 heartbreaker to Central Missouri.
Just as impressive in the classroom, Lamberti was honored as WLU’s Most Outstanding Finance Student when he graduated with a double-major in Finance and Accounting in 2016. He completed his master’s degree in the Science of Leadership at Embry-Riddle in May.
“The biggest thing I learned from Coach Ridder and Coach Keller was the importance of relationship building,” Lamberti said. “You have to know your players as human beings. What’s important to them? What are their goals and aspirations? How can you help them achieve them? I can’t wait to put those lessons to work at WLU.”
