By Kyle LoJacono
After the 51-30 win against Zephyrhills High Jan. 4, first-year Academy at the Lakes coach Karim Nohra congratulated his team as he has following his previous 399 victories.
The 20-year coach thinks there is nothing special about winning his 400th game in high school.
“I never even thought about (400),” Nohra said. “All that’s saying is I’ve coached a long time. As far as I’m concerned it’s just a long time of coaching.”
Nohra, who is a professor at the college of engineering at the University of South Florida, started as a boys junior varsity coach from 1987 to 1990 and then became the girls coach at Tampa Catholic High. He moved to Cambridge Christian High for two years and eventually to Wesley Chapel High the previous two seasons before coming to the academy.
“We’ve had success, but that’s not just because of me,” Nohra said. “It’s the people around me. I have two assistants and I haven’t gone anywhere without them.”
Those assistants are Gene Miranda, who has been with Nohra since he went to Tampa Catholic, while Mackenzie Vidonic played for him at Cambridge and joined his staff after graduating in 2006.
“He tries to act like it’s no big deal, but it is,” Vidonic said. “He’s a great coach and this shows it.”
Nohra guided Wesley Chapel to consecutive regional finals the last two seasons, but was not retained with the team. He did not have to wait too long before another group of Wildcats was knocking at his door.
“I’ve known him for 25 years,” said academy athletic director Tom Haslem. “I’ve followed him the whole way. He’s won a ton of games everywhere he went. When I heard he was having to reapply for his job at Wesley Chapel, which to me means you’re not going to have your job, we jumped on him.”
For a coach who won 48 games in two years at Wesley Chapel, the change with coming to the academy was stark. The Wildcats went 0-15 in the 2009-10 season and needed a lot of work to get to the 9-1 mark they are at.
“They always fielded a team, but they’d get trounced,” Nohra said. “They’d be everyone’s senior night because you know it would be a W. I came in and said the mentally has to change. I’m screaming, yelling at them and they’re like, holy cow this guy is crazy, but I’ve changed their perception of what basketball is all about. They don’t know how to win and you have to know how to win and prepare to win and no one did that before.”
Nohra also put them on a weight lifting and running program to get them faster and stronger to run his system.
“We press and run, that’s my style,” Nohra said. “If you’re not in shape you can’t press and run. I tell them all the time ‘I want the ball.’ Go get me the ball and they can’t score and we have more opportunities to score. That’s the bottom line. Are we good at it yet? No, but if I take it away from you half the time it gives us a better chance to score.”
His players said Nohra says that at least 20 times each practice, “Go get me the ball.” He demands perfection in every drill, asking players where they should be at any point and why.
“He’s just a great coach,” said forward Andrea Mauger, who played for Nohra at Wesley Chapel last season. “He worked me hard and is going to make me a better player. I want to play college ball and he’s a great coach to help be do that. He’s very intense, but he’s awesome. He definitely knows what he’s talking about, but if you don’t do your job you’re going to hear it.”
In practice, Nohra also does not miss an opportunity to remind them where they were one year ago.
“Lazy gets us 0-15,” Nohra yelled during a recent practice.
Sophomore forward Christina Stark was a part of that Wildcats team last year that went winless.
“It’s been a whole different program this year,” Stark said. “He takes practice as serious as games.”
Junior center/forward Alexis Holler also suffered through that 0-15 season.
“It’s a lot faster paced all the time,” Holler said. “We get a lot more done in practice and it’s working. … My goal is to win the first district championship for girls basketball this season. I think we have a chance.”
Only one team has a district title at the academy, the girls golf team this school year. The basketball program reached the district finals in 2007.
In the milestone win Nohra’s press defense forced 25 steals, with Mauger leading the way with nine and also adding a team-high 20 points. Guard Marjorie Rivera added eight steals, 17 points and five rebounds and five assists.
Many of Nohra’s former players, including the entire Wesley Chapel team, watched the 20-year veteran record No. 400. Nohra acknowledged the achievement, but would give them all up for a championship run.
“If anybody wants to trade, I’ll trade my 400 for seven in February,” Nohra said. “That’s really what I’d like to do. … Seven wins in February means we just won the state title.”
The academy had a game against Lakeside Christian Jan. 10, but results were not available by press time. The squad next plays at the Academy of the Holy Names Jan. 18 at 6 p.m.
