Cloud County Community College Athletic Director Matt Bechard has announced the hiring of Kyle Pugh as the seventh men’s basketball coach in the program’s 58-year history. He will replace Devin Kastrup, who became an assistant at Idaho State earlier this month.
Pugh rejoins the Cloud County Community College men’s basketball program following one year away at Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference school Hutchinson Community College where he served as an assistant under former Blue Dragon head coach Tommy Desalme where he helped HCC to a 29-7 overall record and appearance in the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Elite Eight.
“I’m extremely excited to have been chosen to lead a program with the tradition of the Cloud County men’s basketball program” said Pugh. “Thank you to Athletic Director Matt Bechard, President Amber Knoettgen, the hiring committee, and the entire Cloud County family for entrusting me with this opportunity.” “I also want to thank my family and mentors who have instilled the values that we will work to uphold as a program on a daily basis.” “Cloud County Community College is a special place that I’m excited to work towards building a culture of toughness and togetherness at.”
Pugh was part of the T-Bird men’s basketball program for two seasons under former head coach Devin Kastrup and helped CCCC to 30 wins over his two seasons which included 21 wins in the KJCCC and a first-round home NJCAA Region VI Playoff game for the first time in four years. During the 2022-23 season, Cloud County started 10-3 with three wins over nationally-ranked foes to earn an NJCAA Division I Basketball National ranking for the first time since 2015 as the T-Birds went on to earn six wins over nationally-ranked opponents that season. While with the T-Birds, Pugh helped coach four All-KJCCC selections including KJCCC All-Defensive team member Joe Kearney in 2022-23 as CCCC led the league in scoring defense (67.1 points) and opponent field goal percentage (39.9 percent).
A 2018 graduate of the University of Illinois, Pugh joined the Jacksonville University men’s basketball staff that summer, and immediately continued a long line of successful and hard-working G.A.s within the Dolphin program. While at Jacksonville, Pugh spent time capturing practice and game footage, assembling pregame scouting reports, developing content for the team’s social media channels, and assisting with practice operations and travel logistics. Pugh was able to learn the college basketball coaching ropes from a staff that features nearly 50 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level including former T-Bird men’s basketball coach Chad Eshbaugh.
Prior to his time at JU, Pugh was a student manager at Illinois, working on the staffs of both John Groce and Brad Underwood. While with the Illini, he was responsible for assisting with individual workouts and tracking statistics in practice and games.
