The Nike’s are still hot but Logan Stutz has decided to trade in the jersey for a fresh suit as he becomes the first coach and general manager of the Sudbury Five.
The Five will be the 11th franchise in the National Basketball League of Canada when the season opens in November and for a few weeks we had to wait for the team to release the name of their head coach.
Stutz made his way up to Sudbury with his wife Rachel and two daughters, the youngest of which was born in Canada.
“Couldn’t lie, a little nervous because I didn’t know how the turnout was going to be and the community acceptance and everything, but it was great to see everybody here. It’s a great organization to work for, lot of exciting things coming up for the Five, so really, really excited to get some of those announcements going but this is a first step and just honoured to be a part of it,” said Stutz.
Stutz is from Missouri and played for Butler County Community College before moving on to Washburn University, a NCAA Division II school.
He would go on to travel a lot, playing all over the world professionally over eight seasons including three in NBL Canada.
Stutz was the 2016 MVP of NBL Canada.
He called this past season was his last so the 30-year old 6’9” forward makes the quick transition from player to coach.
“During the interview the was one of the questions was about a basketball scenario, and I gave them my answer and they said ‘so you wouldn’t be willing to come back on the court and play?’ And I said ‘I don’t know that would be kind of tough.’ But I might get out there in some practices and the fun thing is I’ll be able to to relate to the guys, when we do some conditioning and some training and maybe some early mornings, I’ll get out there and run with them, work out with them. At the end of the day there will be that separation of coach and player, but there will be some crossover because it wasn’t that long ago that I was in their shoes,” said Stutz.
Not only will he get to scheme and coach, but he will build the team from scratch as the general manager.
“It’s really cool because I get to do things the way I want to do them now. I was a player on a team, I’ve helped out in some front offices, I’ve given my ideas, my recommendations. But now it’s all up to me, I get to form the team, I get to do it. Having the knowledge of this league the last three years and knowing what is successful, what works, what doesn’t work and having a network of successful people around me that I’ve been able to reach out to that have had success in this league, in the NCAA and even in the NBA is something I’m going to benefit from," he said.
"I’m going to use it, I’m going to use a lot of people that have been successful and been in my shoes and talk to them a lot and listen a lot,” said Stutz. But ultimately the decisions come down to me and I’m going to do my very best to put us in a position to win basketball games.”
It was a historic day for the franchise.
“I’m just thrilled with being at the point where we can announce a general manager and coach. I personally feel that launching a name is an abstract, it’s something without reality until you actually start getting players and coach in place. So everything is starting to fall in place and I think this is a really critical step into really rolling out the rest of our implementation plan. We’re really excited to have a quality person like Logan on board,” said VP of Basketball Operation, Bob Johnston.
Stutz will quickly put together the roster with a $200,000 salary, with an upbeat brand of basketball in mind.
“A lot of that will depend on who is on our final roster, but I do have a vision. I want to play fast, I want to shoot a lot of three’s and I want to dunk. Dunking is something that puts fans in the stands and it’s exciting," he said.
"We’re going to shoot a lot, we’re going to try to get some dunks, be athletic and go from there. It’s going to be exciting basketball and that’s the most important thing is team basketball that’s exciting."
But that won’t be all, one of the main reasons he was picked for the job was his sense of community and pride of having a team be a part of Greater Sudbury.
“I’ve seen teams who do really well in the community, I’ve seen it in Europe, I’ve seen it in America, I’ve seen it here in Canada. I find that is what the community is really hungry for, they want to see good quality character guys," said Stutz.
"Obviously you want to win on the court and that’s important too and if you can get the best of both worlds, that’s how we’re going to grow basketball here."
As for a Kansas City kid living in the North, the guy knows how to handle winter.
“I like it, I’ve been in Canada the last three years, I’m not too worried about the winters," said Stutz.
"I lived in Lulea, Sweden which is really close to the Arctic Circle so I’ve lived in cold places. We’ve been on the move a lot so it’s just another place, but we enjoy Canada so it’s going to be a special place."
