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Going out on top: national champion coach Karren retires

May 12, 2017 | 5:43 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  Following one of the most successful seasons in Canadian college women’s basketball history, Lethbridge College Kodiaks head coach Brad Karren has announced his retirement.

Karren is the most decorated coach in Kodiaks basketball history, having won two national championships and two Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) coach of the year awards. He also won five Alberta College’s Athletic Conference (ACAC) championships and was a seven-time winner of the ACAC south division coach of the year award.

An alumni of the Kodiaks program as a player, Karren, a native of Magrath, Alta., coached the women’s team for a total of 14 seasons over two separate terms. He took over the Kodiaks women’s program in 1999-2000 after previously serving as an assistant coach with the men’s team. He coached the Kodiaks until 2010-11 when he left to become an assistant coach at the University of Lethbridge.

Karren returned to the Kodiaks in 2014-15 and over the next three seasons led his team to an incredible record of 73-3 in ACAC and CCAA competition. In the recently-completed 2016-17 season, Karren’s team went undefeated with a 27-0 record, winning the ACAC and CCAA championships, while Karren was named coach of the year in both the ACAC and CCAA.

“I want to personally thank Brad for the time and dedication he has devoted to his student-athletes and the Kodiaks program as a whole,” says Todd Caughlin, manager of Kodiaks Athletics. “I wish him the very best moving forward as he can now spend more time with his family.”

The search for a new Kodiaks women’s basketball head coach will begin immediately.

Brad Karren by the numbers:

— CCAA championships: two (2003-04, 2016-17)
— ACAC championships: five (2003-04, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2014-15, 2016-17)
— CCAA coach of the year: two (2008-09, 2016-17)
— ACAC south division coach of the year: seven (2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2008-09, 2014-15, 2016-17)
— ACAC players of the year coached: five (Mickey Folsom – 2004-05, Tara Griffith – 2005-06, Kayla Lambert – 2008-09, Ali Cameron – 2014-15, Logan Moncks – 2016-17)
— ACAC all-stars coached: 37 (26 first-team selections, 11 second-team selections)