In his playing days at Notre Dame College Koenig was a sharpshooter who started out as a walk-on on the JV team and ended up being a big part of one of the biggest wins in NDC history. Currently Koenig is a teacher at Julie Billiart School in Lyndhurst, OH. I caught up with him for a Q and A.
PV: Tell me about your typical day at Julie Billiart. What classes do you teach and what grade level? How long have you been teaching at JB?
PK: The way that my class is set up at JB we split into small reading and math groups every day. The groups usually consist of five to six students. In the whole group of students I will also teach science, while my partner teacher Nathan will teach Social Studies. I am one of two Special Ed Teachers/ Intervention Specialists in the second grade classroom at JB with Nathan Ratkovsky. I have been involved with JB for a little over eight years now. If you include the field work I had to complete while attending NDC I have been on staff full time at JB for four years now.
PV: How old were you when you picked up a basketball for the first time?
PK: I do not remember exactly how old I was when I first picked up a basketball. Really young obviously. I do remember however the first jumper I made on a ten foot hoop when I was in the first grade.
PV: How old were you when you started playing organized basketball for the first time?
PK: I started playing organized basketball beginning in the third grade while I was attending St.Christine's in Euclid.
PV: What was the biggest thing that you learned in your time at NDC?
PK: The biggest lesson I think I learned and had to fine tune at NDC was having the correct balance between patience and persistence. The two words many times do not go together because I think we naturally want things done the right way. Coming to NDC as a freshman and as a walk-on from the JV team, I had to become very honest with myself in how to become a better basketball player. I knew there were things I had to improve on and take my coaches critiques with an open and accepting mind. I think the persistence to get better was always there but over time the patience to see the big picture improved as well. As much as I wanted to be on the varsity right away I started to understand that I couldn't get better overnight, and it would take some time. The patience of buying into the program at NDC and the process of improving as a basketball player individually was just as important- and I had a lot of fun doing it.
PV: What did you learn from the coaches at NDC?
PK: The one thing I took away from Tim the most is allowing people to be themselves. From a basketball standpoint, he always talks about not handcuffing people offensively and allowing freedom with the structure of the offense. I think I try to do that as a teacher in terms of initially teaching a concept and trying to allow the students the freedom of getting to answers in their own ways. Coach (Jason) Mountain was the same way in terms of allowing me to find what I could bring to the team during practice and games. Coach Baab has always been super honest with me and helped me understand each player's role on the team as your role within your job. He also always preached to play for strengths in the floor when my number was called which for me was to make shots when Tyree (Gaiter) or Dion (D'Armond) made plays and to apply great ball pressure on defense. Coach Billie's big thing was "before you point the finger" , point the thumb" which was always a great reminder to hold myself accountable on and off the floor.
PV: What was the hardest part about being the coaches brother?
PK: For me it wasn't as difficult as some may think. Usually in sports you see a parent coach there son or daughter so I didn't have much to go off of from that perspective at the college level. I think the fact that Tim was an assistant at NDC and the majority, if not all of the players knew who he was when he became the head coach made it an easy adjustment for me. I knew in my mind I had to go the extra mile and dedicate myself to the team our team goals if I wanted to get playing time regardless of who my coach was my senior year. I think the hardest part was whether to call him Coach or just "Tim" ha ha. I just always made sure I was in an earshot of him if I had anything to say.
PV: Who of your former teammates do you still keep in contact with?
PK: I still keep in contact with some of my old teammates for sure. I went to Connor Deckard's wedding this past summer and was able to see several former teammates which was great. I plan on attending Dylan Hickoff's wedding this upcoming summer so it will be great to get a chance to see them again and reminisce.
PV: How do you think your teams would have fared had they played in the MEC?
PK: I was part of the program at a unique time because we were still NAIA during my freshman year and in the middle of transitioning to NCAA Division II. By the time I was a senior and on the varsity we were the first team in the inaugural season of the Mountain East Conference which was pretty awesome. We have now been in the MEC for six years. I went from the JV team to the varsity team my junior year when we weren't in a conference for Division II. We had a young Tyree and that was Doomy (Eric Dummermuth's senior year) so we would have given any team a tough game. My senior year in the MEC was great because there was never an easy game top to bottom when conference play started, and the non- conference games were just as hard with teams like IUP and Findlay. Just like it is currently in the MEC, anyone can beat anybody on any given day. We had to be ready to play or else we would pay for it and vice versa. Despite our record at the time, we always had Tyree and Dion so if teams didn't bring their best effort or game plan we would make them pay for it. Our win against West Liberty speaks to that. There is a picture in the athletic office of Tim and that win titled TK-O. West Liberty was the #1 team in the country at that point in the season and would go on to make the national championship game but we beat them 89-87. With that being said, on that particular night and game we were the better team and came ready to win. Like I said it was a great experience to go up against the best of the best in Division II.
PV: Tell me about your family. Obviously we know your brother Tim is the basketball coach here. Tell me about your other siblings, spouses etc?
PK: I grew up in a big family. I have three brothers (Tim, John and Greg) and a twin sister Bridget. My older brother John currently teaches seventh grade Math at Mayfield Middle School and has coached basketball and baseball. Melissa is John's wife and she is a consultant at Memorial Design. They have a daughter named Aurora who is six. Tim as you know is getting after it and coaching the basketball team at NDC. He is married to Nikki who is the Director Of Operations at Boys Hope-Girl's Hope and they have a son Kyle who just turned five, and a daughter Ella who is a little over one. Greg is an NDC alum and was a member of the track and field team. He currently lives in California by Los Angles and is trying to break into the film industry. My twin sister Bridget (who is seven minutes younger than me ha ha) is a graduate of John Carroll University right up the road and was a four year member of the basketball team. She also received her master's degree last year and is working for the Cleveland Indians. She currently resides in Richmond Heights.
PV: What do you enjoy doing when you are not teaching or supporting the Falcons?
PK: If I am not teaching or supporting the Falcons, I like watching movies. I particularly enjoy watching old NBA Hardwood Classics. It is always cool to compare styles of play and eras, college basketball included. The summer is rapidly approaching so I will definitely go to some Indians games and also enjoy being an Uncle. I also have been getting good at dog sitting if anybody needs someone (ha ha.)
PV: What is the biggest thing you learned from your parents?
PK: The biggest thing that my mom and dad taught me and continue to teach me is holding myself accountable in the energy and effort I put into things. I don't really remember in school ever hearing from my mom and dad a "get good grades" speech or ever checking my stat line when playing sports. That stuff is great and all but they would let me know when they thought I didn't give my best effort . The effort and preparation were always stressed more than the result.
PV: What do your folks do for a living?
PK: My dad retired a couple years ago. He worked for the government as a statistician for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. My mom was an Elementary School Teacher and currently at the Center of Pastroal Leadership in Wicklife. You can also probably locate them at the top of the bleacher's repping NDC gear and cheering on the squad every home game.
PV: Did you ever think about getting into coaching yourself?
PK: I have been fortunate to be able to coach the JV team at NDC the past few years and that has been a cool and unique experience to be on the other side of the coin with the program at NDC.
PV: Describe your time both at University School and NDC?
PK: My time at US and NDC were filled with several fun and hilarious moments. I always had to be on my toes because it was definitely challenging academically and athletically which require a great amount of time and sacrifice. It was definitely a lot of fun- and prepared me for where I am now.
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