Official: Konkol tabbed as Tulsa's next men's basketball coach
Tulsa has its man -- Eric Konkol.
Inside Tulsa Sports first reported Konkol as a top candidate in Tulsa's coaching search on Thursday. Konkol's initial screening interview went extremely well, and he was lined up for a formal interview over the weekend.
On Sunday, sources close to the program indicated that the former Tulsa student assistant aced the formal interview, leading to an offer from TU, and negotiations were ongoing, as we reported in our Hurricane Alley forum. On Monday morning, our sources indicated a deal with Konkol was close to being finalized.
By Monday evening, the news became official with an announcement from the University of Tulsa. A press conference and community event has been scheduled for 5:30 pm on Tuesday.
In seven seasons with the Bulldogs, the 45-year old Konkol has won 67 percent of his games, and Louisiana Tech has won 24 games in each of the past two years. The Bulldogs finished 24-10 this season and 24-8 in 2020-21. Konkol led Tech to several big road wins over major programs, including Ohio State, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Konkol was making $500,000.00 per year at Louisiana Tech and had a $425,000.00 buyout based on his contract extension in July of 2021.
In 2020-21, Konkol's squad was C-USA champions and made it to the NIT Final Four, defeating Colorado State in the consolation final. Konkol was named C-USA Coach of the Year, NABC District 11 Coach of the Year, LABC Louisiana Major College Coach of the Year and LSWA Louisiana Coach of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.
During the 2019-20 season, LA Tech was one of only eight teams in the country to rank in the top 40 in FG percentage and FG percentage defense. Konkol's overall record as a head coach is 153-75.
Konkol is one of the most decorated prep stars from Amherst, Wisconsin, holding several school scoring records. Following high school, he went to play for Bo Ryan at UW-Platteville. Following the 1997 season, he transferred to WIAC rival UW-Eau Claire and played through his graduation in 2000.
Konkol immediately got into the coaching side of basketball by joining Buzz Peterson's Tulsa coaching staff as a student-assistant in 2000. He went on to coach at Tennessee, North Dakota State, George Mason and Miami.
Konkol came to Louisiana Tech after spending the previous four seasons on the staff of Miami's head coach Jim Larranaga. Prior to that, he was with Larranaga for seven years at George Mason.
Konkol has extensive recruiting experience in Texas and Arkansas, two important states for the TU program. At Louisiana Tech, Konkol signed 13 players from Texas. His current roster included six Texans and two players from Arkansas.
“I want to thank Eric for the job he has done serving as our men’s basketball head coach over the past seven years,” said Louisiana Tech Director of Athletics/VP Dr. Eric A. Wood. “He ran a first-class program that was highly competitive on and off the court. Although we are sorry to see him leave, we wish him and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”
Over the past week, sources close to the Tulsa program indicated TU also interviewed Stephen F. Austin head coach Kyle Keller and Texas A&M-CC head coach Steve Lutz. It is believed former Tulsa player and interim coach Pooh Williamson and St. Johns associate head coach TJ Cleveland also had initial contact.