MINERAL AREA COLLEGE

Women's Basketball Coaching Staff

  Head Coach - Gary Koch

   High School:  Lutheran South (St. Louis, MO)

   College:         Southeast Missouri State University  BS
                        Southeast Missouri State University  MA  

Gary Koch is entering his second season as the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Mineral Area College.  Koch is a 30 year veteran of the coaching ranks, and has spent time coaching high school and college, as well as men and women.  Koch’s Cardinals finished 22-10 in his first season at the college.  They finished as the Runner up in the NJCAA Region XVI Championship Tournament, had a 7-3 Region record, and a 5-3 MCCAC Conference Record.

Gary spent the previous six seasons at Jefferson College (Hillsboro, MO), serving as the head coach the past three years.  In those seasons his teams had a 71-23 record, winning the MCCAC Conference in 2004-05.  Jefferson College completed an undefeated MCCAC Conference and Region XVI regular-season run in the 2004-05 season, earning him the MCCAC Conference Coach of the Year honors, and were ranked as high as #9 in the NJCAA poll in his tenure.  The last two years at Jefferson, the team finished with All-American Academic honors, as well as finishing #1 in National Free Throw shooting percentage.

Gary's background includes graduating from Lutheran South in St. Louis, and obtaining his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Southeast Missouri State University. Gary started his career coaching high school boys.  He spent six successful seasons at Valle Catholic High School (Ste. Genevieve, MO).  His teams at Valle amassed a 63-34 record, winning two Missouri District Championships, a Sectional Title, and finished 9th in the Missouri Boy's basketball poll.  He was named the "Conference Coach of the Year" when his team finished 26-5  

Gary is married to Mary Lu and has six children and seven grand children and enjoys spending time with them.  Coach Koch is looking to recruit women that want to go to class and are highly motivated both academically and athletically.  Coach Koch on success on the court and in the classroom - “Sometimes we fall short, but most often we attain that goal.”

  Assistant Coach - Todd Koch

   High School:      Greely County (Tribune, KS)

   College:             Baylor University  BS

Coach Todd Koch joined his father in the transition from Jefferson College to Mineral Area College in the spring of 2006.  Todd has been around basketball his whole life, bringing over 14 years of men's college experience to the women's game. Coach Koch is no stranger to women's basketball, spending the past three seasons with Jefferson College women's program.

Todd started his basketball coaching career at NCAA Division I - Baylor University (Waco, TX).  While working with the Bears program, he had the opportunity to continue to learn hoops from Head Coach Gene Iba of the legendary Iba basketball family. He was part of a successful program at Baylor, which included trips to both the NCAA tournament and NIT tournament.

Koch moved from Baylor to NCAA Division I - New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM). While Koch was on staff, the program was consistently ranked in the top 20. The Aggies were the Great Alaskan Shootout Champions and Big West Conference Champions, making it to the NCAA Tournament in 1991.  The Aggies advanced in the tournament and their run was cut short by Cincinnati for a chance to go to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

In 1992, Coach Koch became an Assistant Coach in the Men’s program at East Central College (Union, MO).  The Rebels were successful in his tenure, as he was promoted to the Head Coaching position in 1998. At East Central, his student-athletes enjoyed a winning program and successful academics. Players from East Central have moved on to all levels of competition including playing professionally.

Todd joined the Women's basketball coaching staff at Jefferson College in 2003.  He spent three years with the Vikings, helping the team to a MCCAC Conference Championship and 71-23 record before moving to Mineral Area College.  Coach Koch and his wife Jennifer reside in High Ridge, and he works for Heimos Produce of St Louis, Missouri.

  Assistant Coach - Randy Skaggs

   High School:      Festus (Festus, MO)

   College:             Southeast Missouri State University  

Randy Skaggs is entering his second season at Mineral Area College after spending the previous three seasons with the Jefferson College Women’s program.  He was a part of the coaching staff in 2004-05 when the Vikings won the MCCAC Conference Championship with an undefeated regular-season. 

Before assisting Coach Koch’s program at Jefferson, Randy worked in the private sector.  Skaggs is retired from AT&T Communications, where he was a manager in Operator Services for many years.  He also tested his entrepreneurial spirit by running his own business for several years.

Coach Skaggs got his start in coaching when he assisted Coach Koch at Valle Catholic, he ran the summer basketball program and coached the team in summer competition.  Coach Skaggs will also act as the team statistician.  He graduated from Festus High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University to study business.  Randy and his wife, Connie, reside in Festus, Missouri.