Kaminsky wants to rebuild NMU men’s b-ball team

The first two finalists for the men’s head basketball coaching job at Northern Michigan University have both been assistant or associate coaches their entire careers. Today, the first candidate with head coaching experience had his on campus interview with the public.

Jeff Kaminsky just completed his eighth season as the head coach at Valley City State, an NAIA school in North Dakota. Kaminsky’s coaching record speaks for itself.

At all three of his coaching stops at Mid State Technical College, Wisconsin-Superior, and Valley City, Kaminsky has rebuilt each program from the ground up. And he would love the opportunity to do the same thing at NMU.

“I don’t like to put a time frame on it for one thing because that is really unfair to the guys who are going to be seniors,” said Kaminsky. “Its time that we understand the thing we need to do on a daily basis to make this program better.”

When it comes to breaking down his offensive and defensive coaching philosophies, Kaminsky preaches constant defensive pressure, which he believes will lead to more opportunities to score on the offensive end.

“You’re going to see a team that has great intensity and great effort,” said Kaminsky. “It needs to be our goal to out compete everybody we play.”

During Kaminsky’s playing days at Grand Valley, the Lakers played against the Wildcats. Playing on the NMU men’s team at the time was current NMU women’s head basketball coach Troy Mattson.

The fourth and final candidate, Bill Sall, the men’s head basketball coach at Ferris State, will have his on campus interview on Thursday.