Our long-time men’s basketball head coach, Steve Konchalski – Coach K, retired on March 31, 2021. Steve coached at StFX for 46 seasons and leaves behind a lasting legacy spanning across the national and international basketball scene.
Coach K is the winningest men’s basketball coach in Canadian university sport history and he is one of two longest serving U SPORTS head coaches across all sports. During his time at StFX he has won three national championships and 9 AUS conference championships. The 2001 U SPORTS Coach of the Year, he has also been honoured on six occasions as AUS Coach of the Year. Coach K currently has 918 career wins (regular season, playoffs & non-conference) with .614 career win percentage. He had led the X-Men to 18 U SPORTS championship appearances and 42 AUS playoff appearances.
In addition to his head coaching duties at X, Coach K served as the head coach of Team Canada for four years (1995-98) and was an assistant coach for 16 years prior. Coaching in three Olympic Games, Steve has been a member of Canada Basketball’s Counsel of Excellence since 2009. He was a member of coaching staff of the Canadian U19 team that won the 2017 World Championship in Cairo, Eygpt.
Coach K has been inducted into four Sports Hall of Fame: Acadia, StFX, Nova Scotia & Canadian Basketball, and this past fall was inducted into the Dalhousie Bertha Wilson Honour Society. The 2010 recipient of the CIS Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award, he was also the inaugural recipient of the Frank Baldwin Memorial Award in 1999 for dedication to basketball in Nova Scotia. Upon renovation in 2017, the court in the StFX Saputo Centre main gymnasium was named “Coach K Court” in honour of Steve Konchalski.
Media Bites with Coach K - CLICK HERE for media coverage on Coach K
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES
Every day throughout the month of March, StFX Athletics released a congratulatory message from an X-Men Basketball alumnus or featured guest on its social media channels. Fans can watch for the videos on Instagram @stfx_athletics, Facebook and/or Twitter @StFXAthletics. #ThanksCoachK
WRITE ON THE VIRTUAL WALL
Fans, supporters and alumni are invited to share a personal written greeting to Coach K by signing our virtual wall. Please use the hashtag #ThanksCoachK on your social media post to share your memories or best wishes for Coach K – using #ThanksCoachK will be automatically shared to our virtual wall!! – or simply click the button below to submit your message!
COACH K NOVELTY JERSEYS
COACH K's OFFICE - 360 VIEW
For StFX fans out there wondering what 46 years looks like, check out this 360 view of Coach K's office! A lot of memories captured here: https://goo.gl/maps/TTvqbjn9NGgrD3s89
X CONNECTS
On Thursday, March 4th, as part of their ongoing X Connects series, the StFX Alumni Association hosted ‘X Connects with Coach K’. Current student-athlete Bailey Wasdal sat down with Coach K to discuss his 46 year coaching career: http://alumni.stfx.ca/xconnects.
EXHIBITION GAME & POST-GAME PRESENTATIONS
StFX Athletics hosted an exhibition men’s basketball game versus the Acadia Axemen on Saturday, March 6th at the StFX Amelia Saputo Centre. The game was the one and only of the 2020-21 season and marked Coach K’s 1495th and final career game behind the bench. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a limited number of spectators were permitted inside the gymnasium.
To view the archived footage of the game, please visit http://player.tv1.ca/video/player/austv. The complete game recap can be read by clicking here.
To view the post game ceremony, including various presentations to Coach K from Acadia, AUS and StFX, and to hear Coach K's remarks, you can watch the entire ceremony on our StFX Athletics YouTube channel.
COACH K CHALLENGE
The March 6th game will mark the inaugural presentation of the Coach K Challenge trophy. Moving forward, the ‘Coach K Challenge’ will feature one game between the Acadia Axemen and StFX X-Men on an annual basis. Konchalski played for the Acadia Axemen, leading them to four conference titles and a national championship title in 1965 where he was chosen tournament MVP.
COACH K INVITATIONAL
Effective for the fall of 2021, the annual X-Men Invitational Tournament held every October at StFX will now be known as the Coach K Invitational. Konchalski started the annual four-team exhibition event in 1979. A complete of the event can be found by clicking here.