Steve Konchalski is the well-known basketball coach for St. Francis Xavier University, he has been coaching there since 1975. He has led his team to the playoffs 30 times, earning 9 league titles. Out of 13 National Tournament appearances, Konchalski has earned 3 National CIS Canadian Championships, and Atlantic University Sport has named him Coach of the Year six times (’82,’90,’99,’00,’02’,’05) and was named CIS Coach of the Year in 2001. For 16 years Konchalski was the National Men’s Assistant Coach, and for four years he played the role of Head Coach.

Konchalski coached the Nova Scotia Junior Men’s team for three years, including the 2001 Canada Games team. On the world stage, he has coached 3 Olympic teams. Konchalski has previously been inducted into the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame, the St. FX University Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, and for his dedication to the sport of basketball he was the inaugural recipient of the Frank Baldwin Memorial Award. Now to add to his achievements, he has been inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.

Annual Program

Former players often snicker Steve Konchalski brings a basketball to bed with him at night.

It’s a good-natured dig at the work ethic exhibited by the native of Elmhurst, N.Y., who first set foot in Canada’s Ocean Playground more than four decades ago. “My work has always been my passion,” Konchalski said. “I have that same fire as when I started coaching, but I direct it in a different way now. Konchalski first caught the attention of this province as a member of the Acadia powerhouse teams of the 1960s where he led the legendary Stu Aberdeen-coached Axemen to four straight Atlantic titles, including the 1965 national crown. The gifted guard poured in 69 points in two playoff games, including 41 in the Canadian semifinal victory over Carleton in the St. Pat’s gymnasium.

He went on to earn a law degree at Dalhousie, but his interest in law was dwarfed by the coaching bug. The rest is history.

After a brief stint as an assistant at Loyola College in Montreal (now Concordia), he borrowed a friend’s car in Wolfville and fell in love with the scenery as he drove to Antigonish for a “chat” regarding the vacant St. Francis Xavier X-Men coaching gig.

Also an assistant with the national men’s program under the larger-than-life tutelage of Jack Donohue, Konchalski accepted the X job on August 18, 1975, the day after Canada toppled the defending Olympic and world champion Russians in Toronto.

His intensity on the sidelines and commitment to excellence laid the groundwork for many successes.

Thirty-two years later—with 675 victories, 31 straight playoff appearances, nine Atlantic titles and three Canadian championships at St. F.X.—Coach K is now a member of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in the builder category. He and the 1965 Acadia hoops squad were inducted in the team section a quarter century ago.

“The challenge of working with young people and giving them some direction in their academic careers still inspires me greatly,” the 62-year-old Konchalski said.

A member of the Acadia, St. F.X. and Canadian basketball Hall of Fame, he was also the recipient of the inaugural Frank Baldwin Memorial Award for dedication to basketball in Nova Scotia.

He was Donohue’s right-hand man for 16 years and guided the national team for a three-and-a-half-year stint ending in the fall of 1998. In addition, he’s previously coached the Nova Scotia junior boys team for a number of years, including the 2001 Canada Games squad.

Don Ehler, executive director of Basketball Nova Scotia, cites Konchalski’s annual involvement with the X-Men youth basketball camps as a precursor to widespread interest in basketball.

“Steve creates excitement amongst the kids and gets them dreaming of playing at the highest level,” Ehler said. “He’s impacted players, he’s involved with coaching certification and he’s basically touched all levels across the province by dedicating his life to basketball. We’re extremely fortunate to have him here in Nova Scotia.”

Annual Program Courtesy of Chris Kallan