Geof Kotila is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He played college basketball for

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

before going into coaching.

Playing career

Kotila played high school basketball at Glen Lake School in

Maple City, Michigan Maple City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of Maple City was 209 at the 2020 census. The community is located within Kasson Township, and lies about no ...

, before enrolling at

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

. He was a four-year starter for the Huskies, earning the team's outstanding newcomer honors in 1978-79, garnering the team’s most improved player award in 1980-81 as well as team MVP honors and the Raymond L. Smith Award as the university's outstanding senior male student-athlete in the 1981-82 campaign. Kotila scored 1,394 points in 102 games for MTU. He ranked third all-time in career points, when his playing career at Michigan Tech came to an end in 1982.

Coaching career

In 1985-86, Kotila served as head men's cross country coach at Michigan Tech and was an assistant men's basketball coach between 1985 and 1987, before being appointed as MTU head men's basketball coach. He stayed on the job until 1994 and had a record of 82 wins and 120 losses. He went to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where he coached in the pro ranks. From 1995 to 2001, Kotila served as head coach of

Horsens IC Horsens Idræts Club Basketball, commonly known as Horsens IC or Horsens, is a professional basketball team based in Horsens, Denmark. The club plays at the Forum Horsens, which can accommodate 4,000 people. The team holds six titles in the Bask ...

in the country’s top division Basketliga, leading the team to a Danish national championship title in 1998 and a Danish cup title in 1996. During his four-year stint at Skovbakken Bears (2002-2006), Kotila won the Danish championship in 2004 and 2005, and the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

in 2005. In the 2004-05 season, he was recognized with Danish Basketliga Coach of the Year honors. He also coached the Bears in their first ever appearance in the EuroCup. In May 2006, Kotila signed a two-year deal with Snæfell of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla. During his first season, the team ended with the third best record in the league before a 76–74 overtime loss in game five in its best-of-five semi-finals series against KR in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs. In the 2007–08 season, he led Snæfell to winning the Icelandic Cup and to the runner-up spot in league play. He left the team afterwards, returning to Denmark, where he was named head coach of Team Fog Næstved in June 2008. In his five-year stint at Næstved, Kotila was named Basketliga Coach of the Year in the 2010-11 season and guided the team to a third-place finish in the national championship in the 2011–12 campaign, which was the best result in club history. Following the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, Kotila decided to step down as Næstved head coach. Besides his job as head coach in the pro ranks, Kotila has also been working alongside

Craig Pedersen Craig Pedersen (born June 13, 1965) is a Canadian basketball coach and the head coach of the Iceland national team, where he coached them at the EuroBasket 2015 and EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket champion ...

as basketball coach and English teacher at EVN (Efterskolen ved Nyborg) school in

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

, Denmark since 2008. In 2017, he took over the job as commissioner of Denmark’s top flight Basketliga.

References

External links

Profile
at

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotila, Geof Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Basketball people from Michigan Michigan Tech Huskies men's basketball players Michigan Tech Huskies men's basketball coaches Year of birth missing (living people)