By Earl Seitz

Olynyk looking forward to the challenge of coaching UBCO Heat basketball

Aug 2, 2018 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOP — Former TRU Athletic Director Ken Olynyk caught many by surprise last month when it was announced that he is going to the UBC Okanagan as the interim men’s basketball coach.

Olynyk had served as the Athletic Director at Thompson Rivers University from 2003 until easing into retirement last December.That lasted six months until his good friend, UBCO Athletic Director Tom Huisman, came calling.

“UBCO released their coaches late, in the sense that they released them the third week of June,” says Olynyk. “They reached out to me asking if I had an interest in it. I said I wasn’t sure, that I had retired. I talked to my family about it and they suggested it was a good thing to do. So I’m going to do it for a year —- I’m going to do it on an interim basis. Help them try to improve basketball in our area — improve basketball within the Okanagan. That’s my goal. It always has been — so it should be fun.”

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Olynyk has more than three decades of coaching experience — at the national level, winning championships at the high school and university levels —- including 14 years as the head coach at the University of Toronto before coming to TRU as the Athletic Director in 2003.

Born and raised in Revelstoke, Olynyk has always kept his hand in coaching, even during his 14 years as the AD at TRU.

“One of my first years here I ended up coaching our women’s basketball team the first year in CIS, now USports,” says Olynyk.  “I continued to coach high school when my kids played.  And I continued to coach a number of years after that. It will be different, but it will be a lot of fun.I’m really excitied about it, I think it will be a great opportunity.”

Olynyk says even though he will be coaching against the WolfPack — the first time the weekend of November 23 and 24 at the Tournament Capital Centre — his heart will always be with TRU.

“The rivalry is there, I guess, in a lot of ways, but it’s not for me,” says Olynyk. “I love TRU. TRU is where I belong in many respects. I have great ties here and I will continue to have great ties here, and will continue to support TRU everyway I can.”