ABOUT COACH K
ATHLETICS & EDUCATION
Bob Krizancic, better known as “Coach K,” has devoted his life to the sport of basketball. He played as a youth and in high school through college at Youngstown State University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with minors in math/science and subsequently received a master’s degree in secondary administration. He has recently received CPC certification as a graduate of the World Coach Institute.
PROFESSIONAL & HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
Coach K worked to organize basketball “feeder” programs for his hometown of Girard, Ohio. He was assistant head coach with the Youngstown Pride in the World Basketball League, which had five teams in the US and five teams in Canada. The World Basketball League was a summer professional basketball league running from May to August (1988 to 1992). He has gained experience and an expertise that is relatively unmatched among his peers.
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Bob has served as head coach of two high school boys’ basketball teams—Girard High School and Mentor High School—for a total of thirty-nine years to date. He is one of four high school coaches in the state of Ohio to win state titles at different schools and received five Hall of Fame Awards as well. He currently has 679 career wins and 6th in Ohio high school history. In the past three seasons the Mentor High school record is 68-10.
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PIONEER IN HIS FIELD
Coach K is a pioneer in his field. He implemented the first drug-testing program while head coach at Girard High School in 1985. Bob has coached teams in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Europe and is currently one of only a select few high school coaches to be included on the panel of presenters at Nike’s annual fall and spring Coaches’ Clinics. He has also been a featured speaker numerous times at business events in Ohio.
MENTORSHIP
Coach K has guided youth off the basketball court as well. He has a strong faith and learned a lot in the process of speaking at the St. Bede the Venerable confirmation classes. His undergraduate studies in psychology formed a solid foundation for working with youth both on and off the court and affected his coaching style and his approach to creating an elite program.
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Coach K has found inspiration and guidance in the words of others who have shared their experiences of struggle and growth. His focus is on how you treat people. As a coach, his mantra is, “My players don’t care how much I know until they know how much I care. I believe that the quality of your life is the quality of your relationships, and I believe in developing the elite relationship.” He advises his readers, “Listen, you will read a lot of quotes in here, but that’s my life. You will see a lot of things in here repeated, but it has to, to be consistent. If you see something repeated in multiple places, it is that important. You must consistently restate the same important concepts.”
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I BELIEVE THAT THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE, IS THE QUALITY OF YOUR RELATIONSHIPS