Winger will coach Lake City again

The last time the Lake City High boys basketball team qualified for state was 2001-02.

That year, the Timberwolves played in the championship game.

Jim Winger was the coach then and he coached one more year before stepping down.

Winger, 42, believes LC should be qualifying for state on a regular basis. To that end, Winger has decided he wants to get the T-Wolves back to where he left the program.

Winger was named head coach Friday, pending approval by the school board at an early May meeting.

“Thinking about coaching again stirred those old emotions up,” Winger said. “After I thought about the pros and cons, I decided I truly missed coaching. And I missed teaching.”

Winger will take a significant pay cut to return to coaching and teaching. LC’s athletic director since 2002, Winger will be a half-time administrator in charge of athletics and a half-time teacher.

Before deciding to return to coaching, Winger talked long and hard about it with his wife, Teri. She reminded him that he didn’t get into teaching and coaching to get rich. She also told him to look around and take inventory of his friends. Many of his closest friendships are with former assistant coaches and former players.

LC principal John Brumley hired Winger for his first head coaching job across town at Coeur d’Alene. After two years coaching his alma mater, Winger followed Brumley west to LC when the school opened in 1994-95.

Brumley is tickled to hire Winger again.

“I believe he can get the program back to where it should be in pretty short order,” Brumley said.

The first thing Brumley did after Jim Thacker resigned last month was ask Winger if he would consider returning.

“I had no idea he would be interested,” Brumley said. “Initially, I thought it was a little bit of a long shot. When he said he’d do it, case closed.”

Winger’s record in 11 seasons is 184-91. His teams in nine seasons at LC were 151-73. Eight of his 11 teams qualified for state, including his first two years at CdA.

“We have a proven coach with an outstanding record who will put this program back where it’s been,” Brumley said.

Winger wasted no time after Brumley made the announcement. He met with the returning players for a few minutes after school.

“I don’t want to see instability in the program anymore,” Winger said. “The kids have been through a lot here in the last few years. I plan on coaching for a long, long time.”

Winger plans to feature an up-tempo offense while using a variety of defenses.

“I really like the kids who are here,” Winger said. “I know one thing – they’ll play hard.”