2017 MHS Graduate Matt Lenards Now Head Coach at Webster

Where Are They Now?
Matt Lenards, a 2017 graduate of MHS, grew up playing football, basketball, baseball and running track for the Bulldogs in Milbank. He recalls practicing and getting in a quick game of lightning at Unity Square as early as third or fourth grade. So it was a surreal experience to walk onto the Bulldogs’ basketball court in February as a Bearcat –and not just as a Bearcat, but head coach of the Bearcats!  “I went from being on one side of the gym and wearing Milbank my entire life to seeing “Bulldogs” on the opponents’ jerseys. Everything else was familiar – although I noticed the gym has new boards and paint –but it was definitely odd, “Matt says. 

Milbank defeated Webster that night, but it was a fairly close game, and it was a victory for both teams. The Bearcats despite taking the loss, were building a winning season –their first in 22 years. Many  people give Coach Lenards credit for turning things around in what was just his first year as the varsity head coach.

The proof exists. Along with their first winning season, “It was the first time the Bearcats made it to the SoDak 16, and  possibly 10 years since they had won the first round at Regions,” Matt says. “However, I don’t know if I can pinpoint any specific thing. I was blessed to have an absolutely phenomenal group of players for my first year. We got in the gym a lot last summer and worked on improving our game.” 

He says he also had help from others. According to Matt he  had a group of older players buy in and commit to what we were trying to do and that always helps. He was constantly pushing them to realize just how good they could be and to see their potential.

The Bearcats held  a lackluster 1-4 record before coming back after the Christmas break to win three in a row and eventually to finish the season strong. “It’s been something  like 10 years since we had won the first round at Regions,” Matt says.

“Ultimately, I think it came down to a sense of belief,” he adds. “I got them to believe in something bigger than themselves. They believed in me, the team, and what they could do on that court together.”  He also now understands the March Madness mantra that sums things up by saying that end-of-season basketball is guaranteed to be full of surprises. 

One of the biggest surprises for Matt was how much being a coach consumes his life and his free time. (Most coaches are now nodding in agreement and laughing.)  “I also wasn’t prepared for the radio interviews. I’m usually a pretty quiet guy that keeps to himself. I don’t like the spotlight, but I was thrust into those situations this year. So I had to adjust.” 

The  good surprises outweigh the challenges, though. He says, “Of course, it means a lot to me in my first year to have one of my  players make an NEC All- Conference team. It reassures me that I did a good job pushing that athlete to be better. I would have liked for more of my players to be selected, but that gives me a goal to chase in the years to come.”

Basketball isn’t Matt’s only job, though. He teaches fourth grade at Webster Area Elementary School. He says both the fourth-grade boys and the fourth-grade girls have basketball teams, and he tries to incorporate a little basketball into his lessons – mostly in math when they are learning about averages or working on multiplication and division.  He also conducts a March Madness bracket challenge in his classroom. The winner gets a tub of ice cream. His favorite team is probably Kentucky, he says, “mostly because I liked them when I was young.” 

He says the coaches he admires are usually the ones he watches on TV:  “Dan Hurley (UConn) because of the intensity and passion he uses to inspire his team; Nate Oats (Alabama) because I like watching his offense and the pace Alabama plays at; and 

Greg McDermott (Creighton) because he uses a lot of creativity in his offense and different out-of-bounds and sideline out-of-bounds plays.” 

Matt also gleaned a lot of insight from his time playing in Milbank. “I took phrases, sayings, and ways to simplify things so players understand them,” he says. “There are things I liked and disliked scheme-wise that I can now sift through and apply.”  

“I think I learned from a lot of people in Milbank and during my time at O’ Gorman. (Matt taught at St. Mary in Sioux Falls for two years and coached eighth-grade basketball there.) “I take things from talking with coaches here (in Webster), and there are even  things I remember from opposing coaches that I want to instill in my program at Webster,” Matt says.

He also continues to learn from shooting hoops. “During the season, we have an “old-man” open-gym, where we get together and play pick-up games.” If the goal is to improve, then anytime is a good time to teach an “old” Bulldog new tricks.

This is the first story in a series called Where Are They Now?  
Catch up on where  MHS alumni are living and what they are doing now.
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