Lakota East named Gideon Dudgeon as the new girls’ basketball coach Wednesday, pending Board of Education approval.
Dudgeon, the Hamilton girls’ basketball coach this past season, was introduced to the Lakota East team at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
"East is one of the top programs in the city," Dudgeon told WCPO.com this afternoon. "The upside is tremendous."
He replaces Jill Phillips, who re-joined the Princeton program after coaching Lakota East the past two seasons.
Lakota East Athletic Director Rich Bryant moved quickly to find the successor. And Dudgeon certainly has a strong resume.
“He knows the GMC well,” said his AAU Xpress Basketball co-coach Kelly Peek. “The guy can coach. He’s really good at breaking down offenses.”
Named an Associated Press Division I state tri-coach of the year, Dudgeon increased Hamilton’s win total by 13 games (4-19 to 17-7) this past winter in his first season.
According to Dudgeon, that was Hamilton’s fifth winning season in program history. Hamilton was fourth in the ultra-competitive Greater Miami Conference standings with an 11-5 record.
Dudgeon said he just tried to fit a style that worked well with the players and emphasized knowing the players on and off the court. He's also a business technology teacher at Hamilton.
Dudgeon, a Mason resident, is also an AAU girls’ basketball coach with All Ohio Xpress. He’s very efficient at paying attention to detail. He expects East to be up-tempo on both ends of the floor.
Peek said Lakota East should expect a lot of transition on the floor. “You will see the defensive intensity step up,” Peek said.
He’s also coached eighth-grade girls’ basketball at Kings Junior High (2014-15) and was the junior varsity boys’ coach at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy from 2012-14.
