KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan men's basketball head coach Steve Hawkins has announced that WMU all-time leading scorer David Kool will join his coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant for the 2010-11 season.
"I've been visiting with David and his family throughout the season and after about his future in basketball," Hawkins said. "He had plenty of offers to play, but called me and decided that he wanted to begin his coaching career. Playing basketball doesn't define David's life, so I'm looking forward to our relationship going from player-coach to coach-coach and helping him further his career."
"All along my goal was to continue playing and I had an offer from a team in Mexico and my agent said offers were forthcoming from France and Germany, but in the last couple of weeks the pressure was on to make a decision on student teaching," Kool said. "I sat down and talked to my family and prayed about it and considered what would make me the most happy.
"Ultimately, my plan has always been to coach and I decided why not now. I went with my heart and that's never a bad thing," Kool said. "Originally, I was leaning toward coaching high school, but when Coach Hawkins and Coach Carter told me about the opportunity to be a student assistant I couldn't pass it up. I wanted to keep learning from people I trust and consider family to soak up everything about coaching that I can."
Kool will spend the first semester student teaching at Galesburg Elementary for the first eight weeks and then at Comstock High School for the next eight weeks, but will be available for staff meetings and other events as his schedule permits. Kool will be back on campus for the spring semester to complete his final classes for his degree in physical education.
"The benefits of David on staff are two-fold," Hawkins said. "He'll bring a player's perspective to our coaching meetings and go from being a yes, sir, guy to an idea guy and let us know what the players felt worked and didn't work. Number two, he has intimate knowledge of our current players from a teammate perspective."
"I think the biggest thing I bring is my knowledge of how the game is played and what I know about our current players," Kool said. "I've also got a lot of info of opposing players who are still around, but in the end, I'm here to provide Coach Hawkins and the program whatever they need."
According to NCAA rules, an undergraduate assistant coach has to have completed his eligibility, but still be an undergraduate student. Kool will have full access to coaching on the floor, but won't be able to recruit.
Kool, the Rivals.com Mid-American Conference Player of the Decade, was named 2009-10 MAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring for the second year in a row with 21.6 points per game. Kool etched his name at the top of WMU's record book with career records of 2,122 points, sixth in conference history, and 605 made free throws, which is also the conference record.
