Rotarian Jessica McGrath introduced Mike McConathy, NSU head basketball coach as the Feb. 4 speaker for the Rotary Club of Natchitoches. She noted that in addition to being an outstanding coach that he was a roll model and active in her church. He noted in his 37 years of coaching that he wanted to have a direct impact on his players. He enjoys reaching out to former players and said it really helps him to be a better coach and has “made a difference in what we do as coaches.” He is proud of his 90% graduation rate. He also noted that recruiting continues to be a challenge with so many schools trying to recruit the same players. He noted that he has coached over 1170 games and enjoyed every one.