Lewis Preston

Lewis Preston Head Men’s Basketball Coach I Virginia Military Institute On Tuesday, April 26, the Kennesaw State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will name Lewis Preston as the fourth head men’s basketball coach in program history. Preston is one of the upand-coming coaches in college basketball, and has developed a strong recruiter and developer of post players during his 13 years in collegiate coaching. Preston comes to Kennesaw from Penn State, where he spent three years on the coaching staff under Ed DeChellis. During his tenure in Happy Valley, Preston helped guide the Nittany Lions to levels of success the program had not seen in years, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance this past March for the first time since 2001 and winning the NIT Tournament during his first season on staff in 2008-09. Prior to his time at Penn State, Preston spent two years as an assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida and before that spent six years under Mike Brey at Notre Dame. Florida won the second of its back-to-back national championships in Preston’s first year on the Gators’ staff, where he was an integral part of Florida’s recruiting, scouting, game preparation and on-court teaching. Preston worked with 2007 first-round NBA draft picks Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer and second-round selection Taurean Green while at Florida. At Notre Dame he had the opportunity to work with two first-round draft picks in back-to-back seasons in Troy Murphy (2001) and Ryan Humphrey (2002) as well as current NBA players Matt Carroll and Chris Quinn. During his time on the Notre Dame staff, Preston was instrumental in the development of the Irish post players and earned a reputation as a highly regarded national recruiter. He helped the Irish to a 118-70 (.628) mark in six years in South Bend, including three NCAA Tournament appearances and a Sweet 16 showing in 2003. The Irish reached the postseason in each of Preston’s six years at Notre Dame. A 1993 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Preston spent four years playing professionally in Europe with stints in Luxembourg, Ireland and Finland. In his first season in Luxembourg, he averaged 25.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and three blocks per game and continued to average a double-double in points and rebounds throughout his professional career. Preston had an outstanding collegiate career after playing just one season at Franklin County (Va.) High School. He began as a walkon at VMI, but left as just the 21st 1,000-point scorer in school history and a school-record holder in four categories. Preston’s 1,146 career points rank 24th on the VMI scoring list. As a senior, Preston led the Keydets in scoring (16.7), rebounding (7.1), field-goal percentage (.540), freethrow percentage (.800) and blocked shots (48). During the 1992-93 campaign, Preston scored in double figures in all but four of VMI’s 27 contests and had 20 or more points on seven occasions. Preston is the school’s record holder in career blocked shots (202), registering the top two blocked shot seasons in Keydet history, including a school-record 65 in 1992 and 64 in 1991. Preston is second all-time in VMI history for blocked shots in a game, swatting seven shot attempts against Marshall in 1992. A two-time all-Southern Conference selection, Preston led the league in blocked shots twice and finished as its second all-time shot-blocking leader. He concluded his career at the Lexington, Va., school with averages of 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

The Lewis Preston File *Hometown: Boones Mill, Va. *Alma Mater: VMI (‘93, History) *Family: Wife, Angela; Daughters Alexandra (8), Emma (6) Coaching 2008-11: 2006-08: 2000-06: 1998-00:

Experience: Penn State Florida Notre Dame Coastal Carolina

Born Oct. 31, 1970, Preston graduated from VMI with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in English literature. He married the former Angela Sangermano in May of 2001. The couple has two daughters, Alexandra, born in December of 2002, and Emma, born in January of 2005.

What The Basketball World iS Saying About Lewis Preston “Kennesaw State is very fortunate. They have hired a class leader who embodies everything that is good about the game. He is a family man who understands relationships and how to motivate young men.” -Larry Shyatt, Head Coach, University of Wyoming Coached with Preston at Florida from 2006-08

“Lewis is a great fit at Kennesaw State. He is a true student of the game and will not be outworked. Most importantly, Lewis relates so well student-athletes. He will do a great job as a head coach.” -Donnie Jones, Head Coach, Central Florida Coached with Preston at Florida from 2006-08

“Lewis is well prepared to be Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Kennesaw State University. He is a tireless worker, excellent recruiter and is gifted at relating to student-athletes. And most importantly he is a high character person with great morals and a strong belief in the values of family.” -Ed DeChellis, Head Coach, Penn State Preston served on PSU staff from 2008-11

“What a great fit for Lewis and Kennesaw State University. He is truly one of the excellent teachers and communicators in our profession. The kind of guy you want your son to play for.” -Mike Brey, Head Coach, Notre Dame

“He is a hard worker and has a lot to ofPreston served on Notre Dame staff from 2000-06 fer. He is a great teacher of the game and there is no doubt that his players will learn to play basketball the right way.” -Al Horford, Forward, Atlanta Hawks Played coached Horford at Florida during the 2006-07 season