Sports
Lance Randall will bring his coaching pedigree to the UWSP sidelines.
Men’s basketball adds former state coach of the year Randall
The Pointer
Dneck184@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s basketball team is preparing for the 2009-2010 season with practices beginning this week and some new additions to the coaching staff, including assistant coach Lance Randall.
Randall joined the Pointers at the end of September after a lengthy hiring process and has settled in with the rest of the staff in time for the new season.
His previous coaching experience includes a 71-3 record, back-to-back state titles and Coach of the Year honors at Oshkosh West High School, as well as serving as head coach for the Birmingham Bullets in the United Kingdom. He also was an assistant coach in Chicago at Loyola University and head coach at Webster University in St. Louis. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Beloit College in 1994.
Praise for Randall has come from around the state, as well as UWSP head coach Bob Semling, who cited his knowledge and motivational skills as well as his relationships with other basketball coaches in Wisconsin as the main reasons for his selection.
“With Lance, we’ve got a really complete coach,” Semling said. “He can teach the game and he knows how to win and because of that he is also a proven coach.”
Semling also said Randall will be valuable in recruiting new talent.
“He is a tremendous recruiter with a great eye for talent who knows what it takes to play and how to tell which guys are going to work for us,” he said.
Randall’s connections between other coaches and players around the state are expected to weigh in for the Pointers.
“Lance is also beneficial because of his connections in basketball around Wisconsin. He is well thought of by people in every level,” Semling said.
When the team needed to fill their spot for graduate assistant coach, Randall was able to contact J.R. Blount, a former player of his from Loyola who seemed qualified for the job. Other than playing four years of Division I basketball, Blount also helped Dominican High School, just outside of Milwaukee, win two state championships.
“I knew Coach Randall was good, and he was going to impact our program, but this was immediate,” said Semling.
Randall said he looks forward to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference providing strong competition.
“It is without question the best Division III conference. These teams would compete with many Division I and II teams in the country,” Randall said.
Randall also said that the UWSP basketball tradition is tremendous.
“I grew up a big fan of [former UWSP coach] Dick Bennett as a young player and as I became an older coach I became close with his brother Jack Bennett, who really mentored me,” he said.
“Stevens Point is a good fit for what I believe is winning basketball,” Randall said. “It’s a good fit for my family and I’m looking forward to being part of the community.”
