By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Five months after firing its previous head coach, the Chicago State Cougars announced a new men’s basketball coach on Tuesday. The institution announced that Lance Irvin would take over the program.
Irvin replaces former head coach Tracy Dildy, who went 3-29 last season. The team also went 1-13 within the Western Athletic Conference.
Dildy was reportedly fired on March 12th.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest NCAAM coverage
Irvin has a broad coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels. He also has deep ties to basketball in the Chicago area as a former star high school player.
Irvin comes to CSU most recently from Chicago’s Morgan Park High School where he served as varsity boy’s assistant basketball coach and Dean of Students.
His previous collegiate experience includes being the men’s associate head basketball coach at Southern Illinois University and assistant coach at Southern Methodist University. He also was an assistant coach at the University of Missouri, Texas A&M University, Iowa State University, and Loyola University.
“I couldn’t be happier to be joining Chicago State University as head coach of the men’s basketball team, which is a tremendous group of athletes ready to make their mark,” Irvin said. “This is an exciting time to join CSU, and I look forward to helping this team unlock its potential and achieve great things for the school and the city of Chicago.”
The team won two of its first six games last season. Then lost 24 straight games, before defeating UMKC on March 3rd, 2018 when they won 96-82 at the Jones Convocation Center.
As the Cougars’ head coach, Dildy went 55-200 in the regular season. His teams had a .216 win percentage.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest Sports coverage
He only had two teams that won more than 10 games in a season. During the 2012-13 season, the team went 11-22. The following season, the team went 13-19.
However, since the 2013-14 season, his teams had just 21 combined wins.
Irvin is not the only new head coach the team hired on Tuesday. The school also announced that Misty Opat will coach their women’s basketball team.
“Throughout their careers, both coaches have demonstrated a commitment to inspiring their teams to achieve excellence on and off the court, making them the ideal additions to the CSU family,” athletic director Chris Zorich said in a statement.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Tumblr, YouTube, and TruthSocial
Keep Independent Journalism Alive! Ad-free experience and Exclusive Premium-plus content. Join our Paid Substack for additional content for $10 per month. This is ad-free content. We believe that what you read matters and great writing is valuable. Through Substack, writers can flourish by being paid directly by their readers. © 2007-2023 The Capital Sports Report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcasted, rewritten, or redistributed.
