Attention to detail may be Nick Lother’s strong suit as a Winnipeg basketball coach, but it’s far from his only strength.
“All the other coaches I’ve had, it’s straight fundamentals, but Nick actually opens up every facet of the game,” said Evolve Basketball participant George Fedorchuk.
“I’ve learned more with him the last year than I have with any other coach.”
Less than a year ago, Lother created ‘Evolve Basketball,’ a program dedicated to developing local talent with the help of some high school coaches around Winnipeg.
“What we were finding was that a lot of our higher-level athletes were leaving Manitoba to find other resources for their development. I would say it was accelerated because of COVID-19, the shutdowns limited us as teachers in the high schools,” Lother explained.
So the former University of Winnipeg point guard worked with his alma mater in designing an academy that offers a variety of programs geared towards high school basketball players.
“I’ve been coaching ever since I stopped playing really,” Lother said. “I came back here, did an education degree and coached for Mike Raimbault who’s a mentor of mine, a great friend of mine, and I’ve kept up with it ever since.”
Even though he’s only been in charge of Evolve for less than a year, his ability when it comes to being relatable, is second to none.
“He’s a coach who looks at the smaller guys, like a lot of coaches like the bigger point guards or bigger guards and he’s someone who’ll take the opportunity for someone who’s smaller,” said one of his young point guards Diego Presinglar.