Luke Yaklich

Last updated
Luke Yaklich
Luke Yaklich.jpg
Biographical details
Born (1976-05-08) May 8, 1976 (age 48)
LaSalle, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater Illinois State ('98)
Olivet Nazarene ('04) and ('09)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2000 LaSalle-Peru HS (girls)
2000–2003 Sterling HS
2003–2007LaSalle-Peru HS
2007–2013 Joliet West HS
2013–2017 Illinois State (asst.)
2017–2019 Michigan (asst.)
2019–2020 Texas (asst.)
2020–2024 UIC
Head coaching record
Overall47–70 (.402) (college)
214–173 (.553) (high school)

Luke Yaklich (born May 8, 1976) is an American college basketball coach and former men's basketball coach for the UIC Flames.

Contents

Early life and education

Yaklich is a native of LaSalle, Illinois. He graduated from LaSalle-Peru High School in 1994 after competing on the basketball team. Yaklich earned a Bachelor of Science from Illinois State University in 1998. [1] He served as a student manager for the basketball team. [2] He received his Master of Education from Olivet Nazarene University in 2004 and Master of Education Administration from Olivet Nazarene in 2009. [1]

Coaching career

Yaklich began his coaching career at his high school alma mater in 1999, serving for a season as the head girls coach. In 2000, he became the boys' basketball coach at Sterling High School, serving until 2003. Yaklich subsequently became the boys basketball coach at LaSalle-Peru. In 2007, he was hired at Joliet West High School. Yaklich led the 2009-10 Joliet team to a 24-8 record and the Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional Championship and earned 2010 District 9 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Coach of the Year honors. In his final season at the school in 2012-13, he guided the team to an IHSA Class 4A Lockport Regional title and 19-8 record. [1] Yaklich also served as a social studies teacher, earning teacher of the year honors at Joliet West. [2]

Yaklich served as an assistant coach at Illinois State under Dan Muller from 2013 to 2017. He knew Muller from their time in college together at Illinois State, and he helped the team reach the NIT in 2015 and 2017. [1] On August 4, 2017, Luke Yaklich was announced as a new assistant coach on the Michigan basketball staff. [3] [4] [5] Muller recommended Yaklich for the position to Michigan's John Beilein. [2] Yaklich served as Michigan's defensive specialist and helped the team reach the 2018 NCAA Tournament Championship game. In his two seasons on the bench, Michigan compiled a 63-15 record. In May 2019, Yaklich was hired as an assistant at Texas under Shaka Smart. [1]

On March 24, 2020, Yaklich accepted the head coaching position at UIC. [6] On March 10, 2024, UIC fired Yaklich. [7]

Personal life

Yaklich and his wife, Amy, have three children: Olivia, Griffin, and Taylor. [1]

Head coaching record

High school

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
LaSalle-Peru Lady Cavaliers (North Central Illinois Conference)(1999–2000)
1999-00LaSalle-Peru 16-11
LaSalle-Peru HS:16–11 (.593)
Sterling Golden Warriors (North Central Illinois Conference)(2000–2003)
2000-01Sterling HS 8-19
2001-02Sterling HS 13-14
2002-03Sterling HS 15-13
Sterling HS:36–46 (.439)
LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers (North Central Illinois Conference)(2003–2007)
2003-04LaSalle-Peru HS 8-18
2004-05LaSalle-Peru HS 14-14
2005-06LaSalle-Peru HS 18-12
2006-07LaSalle-Peru HS 18-10
LaSalle-Peru HS:58–54 (.518)
Joliet West Tigers (Southwest Suburban Conference)(2007–2013)
2007-08Joliet West HS 16-12
2008-09Joliet West HS 19-8
2009-10Joliet West HS 24-8
2010-11Joliet West HS 9-16
2011-12Joliet West HS 17-10
2012-13Joliet West HS 19-8
Joliet West HS:104–62 (.627)
Total:214–173 (.553)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

College

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
UIC Flames (Horizon League)(2020–2022)
2020–21 UIC 9–136–1011th
2021–22 UIC 14–169–108th
UIC Flames (Missouri Valley Conference)(2022–2024)
2022–23 UIC 12–204–1611th
2023–24 UIC 12–214–1611th
UIC:47–70 (.402)23–52 (.307)
Total:47–70 (.402)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Luke Yaklich named Men's Basketball Associate Head Coach". TexasSports.com. University of Texas. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Norlander, Matt (29 March 2018). "How an ex-high school social studies teacher helped put Michigan in the Final Four". CBS Sports . Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. "Report: Michigan To Hire Luke Yaklich As Assistant". MGoBlog.com. MGoBlog. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. "Official: Michigan hired Luke Yaklich and DeAndre Haynes to fill assistant coaching vacancies". MaizeNBrew.com. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  5. "Sources: Michigan to hire Illinois State's Luke Yaklich". 247sports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  6. Cobb, David; Norlander, Matt (24 March 2020). "College basketball coaching changes tracker: Illinois-Chicago hires Texas assistant Luke Yaklich". CBS Sports . Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. "Illinois-Chicago fires coach Luke Yaklich after 4 seasons". AP News. 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-04-15.