It has been a while since Canyon has had their girls basketball job open but the search officially came to an end this Thursday.
Canyon ISD did not have to look far for the new hire as Tate Lombard, the son of long-time coach and hall of famer Joe Lombard, who announced his retirement earlier this month.
Tate is no stranger to success, winning state with Wall back in 2014 and 2016, which was the same years his father won state with the Lady Eagles and has compiled a 255-59 record in the eight years with the Lady Hawks.
Congratulations to @tate_lombard New Lady Eagle Basketball Coach! #CISDRocks. pic.twitter.com/Zm7cBB9BzJ
— CanyonISDAthletics (@CanyonAthDept) April 23, 2020
“This has been a dream job for me in my entire career since I got started,” Lombard said in a zoom press conference. “I think it’s the best place in the state of Texas as far as a community to be involved with.”
– Tate Lombard
Tate was an assistant under his father this past season and now will be at the helm, as his father will remain heavily involved on the sidelines.
“He [Joe] will be highly involved in everything that we do,” Lombard said. “I don’t know of a certain title as of yet, but as much as he loves this program, the kids here and the number one passion is obviously basketball. He has a ton of knowledge that I’m learning from but the thing I’m excited about is he gets the chance to continue working with our kids and that is going to get us better as a program, it’s going to make our kids better to learn from him and his teachings every day. The credit goes to our administration for allowing us to do this.”
Assistant coach Johnny Hampton will stay on staff as the job search will turn to Tate’s former position.
