As St. FX goes for gold, Coach K's impact is still being felt — even in retirement

It's been two years since men's basketball coach Steve Konchalski retired after 46 years behind the bench at St. Francis Xavier University, but his legacy still looms large in Antigonish, N.S.

It's there in the old gymnasium — known these days as Coach K Court, where he became the winningest coach in U Sports history — and can be found in the DNA of players like Dondre Reddick, who grew up in the small college town and spent most of his childhood kicking around that same court.

Konchalski's legacy is also top of mind for Tyrell Vernon, the team's new coach, who took a leap of faith just over a decade ago and transferred to St. FX to play for him.

But for a man with basketball in his blood, Konchalski's retirement is going about as well as it did for Michael Jordan on his first two go-rounds.

"He's at every game and we'll meet every week, going over game film, meeting players … it's non-stop," said Vernon, who considers Coach K his mentor.

Konchalski also keeps busy by working with the Canadian Elite Basketball League as a senior advisor for the Newfoundland Growlers and the Calgary Surge.

He'll even be in the stands of Scotiabank Centre in Halifax this weekend, as the X-Men goes for its first national championship since the basketball team won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.

The school was set to host the U Sports final eight men's basketball tournament in 2021 — Konchalski's last year — but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"That was gonna be my swan song," Konchalski said. "We were building towards it then and [Vernon] got another couple years to build towards that and he's done a fantastic job. I think we have a legitimate opportunity to compete with any team there." 

In his two seasons as head