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Mens Basketball Sets Staff for 2004-05


Athletics - posted on 8/16/2004

Lakeland head men’s basketball coach Gary Grzesk has announced his coaching staff for the 2004-05 season.

Jeff Nicholas, who served as an assistant coach last season, has been promoted to associate head coach. Nicholas will coordinate academics and recruiting for the Muskies along with a number of other duties. He is also head men’s golf coach and teaches mathematics courses at Lakeland.

Nicholas came to Lakeland after spending two seasons as head boy's basketball coach at Waterford Union High School in Waterford, Wis. Nicholas played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and was team captain for the 1997 squad that earned an NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.

“Jeff played a critical role in our development and success last season,” Grzesk said. “He is ready to take on more responsibility. Jeff is on the road to a great coaching career.”

Josh Wolfe, Scott Sorenson and Cory Nickel will round out Lakeland’s basketball staff as assistant coaches.

Wolfe, a 2004 graduate of Hope College, Mich., will direct the team’s strength and conditioning program and coach the junior varsity team. Since 2001, Wolfe has been a student assistant coach at Hope, one of the nation’s top NCAA Division 3 programs, and he was involved in all aspects of the program.

Sorenson was most recently head coach for the Niagara Gamblers, a professional minor league summer team in the Ontario Professional Basketball Association, and top assistant at De La Salle High School in Minneapolis, Minn.

Sorenson has a bachelor’s from the University of Minnesota and completed all coursework for a master’s in sport leadership from Virginia Commonwealth. He will be involved in recruiting, alumni relations and administrative duties.

Nickel, a 2004 Lakeland graduate, will assist with scouting and recruiting. Nickel finished an outstanding Lakeland career as the program’s No. 8 all-time scorer with 1,498 career points and led the program to its first-even NCAA Tournament appearance. He won numerous athletic and academic honors at Lakeland, including the 2004 Koehler Campus Senior Award and first team academic all-district.

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