Ken McMurray has been promoted to full-time head coach of the Kodiaks women's basketball team (Kodiaks Athletics, Lethbridge College)

By Justin Goulet

Ken McMurray promoted to head coach of Kodiaks women’s basketball team

Jun 24, 2021 | 7:35 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Ahead of the 2021 season, the Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s basketball team has announced a coaching change.

Ken McMurray has been promoted to the position of full-time coach. He spent the past year as co-coach of the team, alongside reigning Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) south division Coach of the Year Deanna Simpson, who has announced she is leaving the program to focus on her family and career. McMurray first joined the Kodiaks as an assistant coach in 2019-2020.

Beforehand, he gained more than 30 years of high school coaching experience with the Cardston Cougars boys’ and girls’ teams.

He was an all-Canadian player for the University of Lethbridge in the 1980s and helped develop and graduate dozens of Cougars players onto college and university programs around the country. Currently, McMurray is the principal at Cardston High School.

Kodiaks Athletics manager Todd Caughlin said that promoting McMurray to head coach was “an obvious choice” due to his vast knowledge of the game, his deep ties to the basketball scene in southern Alberta and “his winning resume”.

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“Having worked with Deanna over the last two seasons, Ken will be able to continue building on what this program has achieved already, and I look forward to seeing all that he is able to teach and build in our players.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McMurray has yet to coach an ACAC game as a head coach, however, he said a year of practice and team building will have the Kodiaks well-positioned to be a force in the ACAC’s south division.

The new coach said, “I am excited to continue building the Kodiaks women’s basketball program.”

“Last year was a disappointment with the loss of the season due to COVID-19. The players had worked hard and were looking like a possible contender until things were shut down. So, with that mindset, I feel like we have some unfinished business to take care of. It has been a pleasure working with Deanna Simpson and recently, assistant coach Danielle Fritzke. I wish them the best as they take care of the important role of working with their families.”

Simpson served as the team’s head coach from 2017 to 2020. A former Kodiaks player and assistant, Simpson rebuilt the program following a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championship in 2017. After one season of rebuilding, she led the Kodiaks to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020.

Caughlin said “it was a pleasure watching Deanna grow and learn as a young coach.”

“She really put in the time and effort to work with the players and to build a program we can be proud of on the court, in the classroom and in the community. I thank Deanna for her many years with the Kodiaks, and she will always be a part of this Kodiaks family.”

New coach Ken McMurray is looking for an assistant coach for the 2021-2022 season. Anyone interested is encouraged to email wbb@lethbridgecollege.ca.