Dodge City Names New Women’s Coach

Dodge City Community College Athletic Director, Howie Smith, has announced the hiring of Lucas McDonald as the new women’s basketball coach. McDonald was an assistant at Dodge City Community College from 2001-2004. “He knows the hard work that it will take to transform the program back to what it was when he and coach Turgeon were here,” said Smith.

Lucas has spent the past five seasons as a head girls basketball coach in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Most recently he had been the head girls basketball coach at Pelham High School since 2007. He led Pel-ham to only the second hosting of an area tournament in the school’s history.

Prior to Pelham, McDonald spent a season as the head girls basketball coach at Pleasant Grove High School. His 5A team was ranked 9th in the Alabama Sports Writers Association poll and made an appear-ance in the Northwest regional.

McDonald has also coached at the collegiate level seven years. From 2004 to 2006, he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Birmingham Southern College. During his tenure at Southern, he helped the Lady Panthers rank second in the NCAA in steals per game.

Lucas is no stranger to the Lady Conquistador basketball program. Coach McDonald was an assistant coach for Jim Turgeon from 2001 to 2004. During his first stint at Dodge City CC, McDonald helped to steadily improve the Lady Conquistador basketball program. After winning 13 games during the 2001-2002 season, the Lady Conquistadors won 22 games during the 2002-2003 season and then set a school record for wins during the 2003-2004 season with 26 wins.

The 2003-2004 squad also reached the Region VI championship game before falling to Seward County and was ranked nationally for 11 weeks.

A graduate of Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, McDonald spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. He completed his bachelor of science degree in Biology along with a secondary education certificate.

“The combination of his in state ties from his time at Dodge city and his out of state connections from his time coaching in Alabama, along with recruiting in Texas as an assistant coach at Dodge City, brings in the whole package in recruiting,” says Smith.