New Butler boys basketball coach Joe Lewandowski knows all about pressure.
It doesn't come from inheriting the reins of an underachieving program that went 7-17 last year.
"Pressure, I just don't see it for the high school game," Lewandowski said. "Pressure is more like knowing you can get sent home if you don't have a good game. From a coaching standpoint, coaching high school isn't really pressure."
Especially when home is a few thousand miles away and across an ocean.
Lewandowski played professional basketball in Denmark with two teams from 1997-2001.
He also was the assistant coach of the Denmark Oure, a high school team, from 1998-99.
"Playing in Denmark was great," Lewandowski said. "Any time you get a chance to go and live in a different country, it's just a great experience. It was a world experience, and I had the chance to play basketball."
Now, he gets a chance to be the head coach of the boys basketball program at the WPIAL's biggest school district. Lewandowski plans on taking advantage of the school's large enrollment and an upbeat squad, as Butler tries to return to the glory days of the early 90s.
"I'm extremely excited," Lewandowski said. "I can't ask for a better situation. It has the potential to be the best program in western Pennsylvania. We have kids who are excited about basketball, and we have the opportunity to create something special."
Lewandowski is accustomed to hard work. He starred at Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School and, after stops at the Naval Academy and Butler County Community College, settled at Division II Slippery Rock University.
In between his stints playing professional basketball in Denmark, he coached as an assistant under George Abraham at Butler High School (1998-99) and later at Butler County Community College.
| The Lewandowski file |
| Joe Lewandowski was named the head boys' basketball coach at Butler last month
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"I've had the chance to coach for guys like Abraham and his record alone speaks for itself," Lewandowski said. "I spent some time as an assistant but it's great to be a head coach now."
Lewandowski, who teaches English at Butler Junior High School, was named the coach May 13. He has scheduled open-gym practices and has met with the parents and booster organization.
The meetings have stirred up excitement throughout the program, and he claimed it was not possible to stress how hard the team is working.
"That week I was named coach, we started open gym that Thursday," Lewandowski said. "I know with a new coach, there are a lot of changes in the program, so we'll kind of work it on how quickly the guys pick things up. I don't want them to play too many games or go to too many clinics."
Lewandowski also understands his personality will play a major role in the success of the team, which won't be measured by wins and losses.
"I played so recently that what I want to relate to the boys and what I'm trying to get across should be easier," he said. "But whatever record we have, it will be just that. We are going to do things the right way, and good things will follow."
And for Lewandowski thus far, good things have followed everywhere he has gone.
"As a high school coach, my job is to shape and mold kids and to prepare them for the future," Lewandowski said.
