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Men's Basketball Assistants Ready to Begin

All three have crossed paths with Coach Preston along their basketball journeys

6/22/2011 11:51:00 AM

Mike Smith Bio

Jimmy Lallathin Bio

Tim Morris Bio

KENNESAW, Ga. – The new era of Kennesaw State Owls men’s basketball has officially dawned, and head coach Lewis Preston is excited about the staff that he has been able to bring to campus.

“I’m really excited to have the four of us on campus working together, this really is an excellent group of coaches that I have here,” Preston said of his staff, which consists of Mike Smith, Jimmy Lallathin and Tim Morris, all new to Kennesaw State. “We come from diverse backgrounds, but we all get along great  with one another, and we all share a passion for the game of basketball and want to achieve great things here.”

Preston, who has coached in several different parts of the country during his career, has assembled a staff that brings to the program a blend of basketball experience at the collegiate and professional levels. Their playing and coaching days have taken them all over the country, as well as the globe, and they represent many of the steps along Preston’s path to his head coaching opportunity here at Kennesaw State.

Following his collegiate playing career at Virginia Military Institute, where he was a two-time All-Southern Conference selection, Preston embarked on a professional playing career overseas, which took him to Luxembourg, Ireland and Finland. It was in Finland where he met Mike Smith, who had been a star player at University of New Orleans and had also chosen to continue his career as a player in Europe. The two became close friends while in Finland and both made successful transitions to college coaching. Smith jumped at the opportunity to join Preston’s staff, bringing with him experience from his time on four other NCAA Division I coaching staffs.

“It’s really an honor to be a part of this opportunity with Coach Preston,” said Smith, who roomed with Preston during their time in Finland. “I think Kennesaw State represents a tremendous opportunity for growth, both for my career and for the program, and I really think with the resources that we have here we can definitely make ourselves one of the elite programs in the Atlantic Sun Conference.”

With Preston adding Smith to his staff, he is getting someone who he has known throughout his journey as a college coach, and someone who knew him when he was just starting out after he finished college.

“Having coached at Jacksonville State, which isn’t far from the Atlanta area, and also having coached at the junior college level, Mike is going to be very valuable for us on our staff,” said Preston. “He’s a good family man, and he’s someone who really taught me a great deal when I first started playing professionally. When I first arrived in Europe and we played together, he had already been playing professionally for a little while, so he taught me a great deal about the game when I came from the college ranks, especially when it came to helping me to understand the business side of things. We stayed in touch over the years and followed each other’s careers, and it’s amazing that we’re here now at Kennesaw State.”


Following his playing career, Preston began coaching at the collegiate level, starting out at Coastal Carolina before moving on to Notre Dame. It was during his six seasons in South Bend, Ind., that he met Lallathin, who worked at basketball camps up there during the summer while teaching and coaching high school basketball at Lakota West High School in suburban Cincinnati.

“I like to say that in the way Mike mentored me as a player, I kind of mentored Jimmy when it came to coaching in the college ranks,” Preston remarked. “He’s the kind of guy you love to have on your staff because you can feed off of his energy. We like to call him the energizer bunny. He always makes sure the energy level is high among the coaches and players.”

Lallathin, who most recently spent four years on the staff at Miami University of Ohio, was an associate head coach at Lakota West for several years, the program being a state power throughout his time there. He had really developed a niche in the high school game, and had helped six of his players reach the NCAA Division I level.

“I really thought that coaching in high school was what I would do for a long period of time,” said Lallathin. “My relationship with Coach Preston really helped to mold me into a college coach. I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time, and being here on his staff, I couldn’t be more excited.”

Lallathin is a native of Ohio and had spent virtually all of his professional career there, but this was an opportunity that he jumped at when given the chance.

“Coming down here and seeing all of the energy that is exuded from everyone on campus and the surrounding community, it was immediately clear that all of the pieces are in place to get us to a championship level,” Lallathin said. “It’s a matter of working hard and getting the job done. As excited as I was when I got here, my expectations for what we can be have risen even higher now that I’m more familiar with what we have to work with, in all respects.”

Smith and Lallathin are joined by Tim Morris, who will be a full-time assistant coach for the first time after serving as a graduate assistant at Alabama. Morris, who hails from nearby Smyrna and is a former Mr. Georgia Basketball runner-up, is also a former player, having lettered at both Stanford and Washington before playing professionally for a year overseas. In Morris, who just recently wrapped up his playing career, Preston sees someone who can connect with the student-athlete, having experienced what they are going through such a short time ago.

“Tim has been where these players want to go, and he’s done it relatively recently. He can help them understand how hard they have to work and what goes into being successful as a student-athlete both on the floor and in the classroom,” said Preston, who remembers Morris when he was playing both in high school and in college. “Tim was one of the most intelligent young men that I had been around back when I knew him as a player, and he and I both share very strong values on the importance of education.”

In starting a new phase of his life, Morris is excited that he gets to do it so close to where he grew up and that he gets to help young men reach their potential in college basketball.

“It’s great to be back home, especially in a place that’s so ripe for growth,” said Morris. “I’m really looking forward to reaching young men in a significant way. Teaching basketball and also mentoring our players based on my experience playing professionally and collegiately is something that is very exciting for me.”

All four coaches are on campus, ready to go, and despite the fact that all three assistants are just getting to know one another, they already feel like they are developing a common bond.

“Sometimes when new staffs come together, the chemistry is immediate, and other times it takes a little while to develop,” said Smith. “All of us have bonded quickly, and that’s due to all of us having known Coach Preston and all of us having a common goal, which is getting this program to the next level.”
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