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Interim Head Coach Dennis Nagan is in his second season with the Lawrence University women’s basketball program. This will be his first season as the Lawrence head coach and the expectations for the team are high. “We fully expect these young ladies to win this season and compete for a place in the Midwest Conference Tournament. We won’t be rebuilding. We’ll be unleashing the talent that already resides in each of them.”
All eight eligible members from last year’s team are expected to return for the new season and are eager to learn the new aggressive style of play Coach Nagan and assistant coaches Joe Springer and Kelly O’Keef will be installing. Coach Nagan expects to welcome six new student-athletes to the team for next season, increasing the potential opening day roster to 14 players.
Coach Nagan has been coaching women’s basketball since 1982. He started out coaching fifth grade girls at Sacred Heart Catholic School here in Appleton. He progressed to coaching at area high schools including Appleton Xavier, Bay Port, De Pere and Appleton East. He’s been recruited to coach Division 1-caliber student-athletes at various AAU tournaments throughout his career to prepare them for the next level. As a head coach, he has a winning percentage of .668 with 11 championships. He credits this success to his proven ability to teach and develop players beyond their expectations. His keys to winning are simple yet very effective: “Enthusiastic-Prepared-Aggressive.”
Despite such successes, Coach Nagan has continued to keep his priorities in order for his players. Family, health and academics are three such values that Coach Nagan feels will only enhance the team’s on-court skills. There is a strong belief on the part of this coaching staff that Lawrence basketball is a family and will be supportive of each other no matter the challenges we face individually or as a team.
Coach Nagan is happily married to his wife, Darlene, and they have been together for more than 27 years. They have two daughters (Misty and Keri), one son (Jesse), two grandsons (Jakob and Eli) and a son-in-law, Cory. Coach Nagan graduated from Kaukauna High School and Fox Valley Technical College and attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. In his spare time Coach Nagan loves to be with family and friends fishing, golfing and enjoying life. He is a 35 year blood/platelet/plasma donor with the Community Blood Center in Appleton, is a registered bone marrow donor and is a volunteer at the Outagamie Chapter Red Cross in Disaster Services. |
