Rebuilding at Lakeland High
It’s not necessarily starting over for new Lakeland High athletic director Mike Divilbiss.
More like rebuilding what he started some 31 years ago at Lewis-Clark State College.
Divilbiss was recently named athletic director at Lakeland, taking over for Tim Cronnelly, who will remain with the district as a history teacher at Timberlake High, his previous school.
Cronnelly was at Timberlake for 13 years, 12 as the school’s athletic director before leaving two years ago for the Lakeland position.
Divilbiss, 59, coached the women’s basketball team at Lewis-Clark State for 14 years from 1987 to 2001 before moving onto the University of Idaho until 2008. He was an associate coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay and Illinois before returning to the northwest during the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach for the North Idaho College women’s basketball team.
“I came back to Spokane because this area is familiar,” Divilbiss said. “I felt there’d be more opportunities in the Spokane area. We’ve got family here and I felt it might be a good opportunity to restart.”
“He’s an individual that’s been in athletics for 32 years,” Lakeland High principal Trent Derrick said of Divilbiss. “That in itself says he knows what it’s all about. In the process of the interviews and conversations I had with him, I just felt he has a strong commitment to wanting to see students be successful and to do their best, and how to help them get there. With him coaching at different levels, it gives a fresh perspective that you don’t normally get from a high school A.D.”
During his time at Illinois, Divilbiss and other coaches were accused of mistreating a player during their tenure. They were later cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Something that I really want people to understand is that we were — me included — were completely cleared of those accusations,” Divilbiss said. “From that experience, and it’s really important as it pertains to the Lakeland job, that anytime you go through adversity, you have a chance to improve and grow your character. It’s a mindset to have over the last 32 years. Going through that struggle has made this step make me believe I can provide more help to coaches.”
NIC’s women finished 19-10 last year. Chantel Divilbiss, Mike’s daughter, was a point guard for the Cardinals when they won the 2011 NJCAA title.
“(NIC coaches) Chris and Carey (Carlson) were at a point where they were looking for some fresh ideas,” Divilbiss said. “They’re both experienced and have done extremely well. It was exciting for all three of us. I was really thankful for the year and to offer some fresh advice. It was really enjoyable and a really rewarding experience.”
When he first started coaching at Lewis-Clark State, Divilbiss ran the girls program much like the department he’ll inherit at Lakeland.
“At that time, we kind of ran our own programs,” Divilbiss said. “I was kind of like an athletic director over my own team. I really enjoyed helping the other programs and love being around it. I think I still have some things to offer people.”
Cronnelly replaced Derrick two years ago when Derrick accepted the principal position at Lakeland.
“Tim has been an A.D. for 14 years, and he knows there’s a lot of stress in that office,” said Derrick of Cronnelly. “It just came down to that Tim felt he’d put in his time, and he did a great job for us. He’s a good friend of mine and he decided that he had a few years left, and it was time to not have all that stress.”
Divilbiss also taught elementary school physical education during his time in Minnesota, but will have to get recertified, which he said he will conclude this summer.
“I think there’s a hard-working group of coaches there at Lakeland,” Divilbiss said. “It’s going to be exciting to be a part of their lives and offer some support where I can. I’ve been really impressed with Trent and Dr. (Becky) Meyer (Lakeland School District Superintendent). I’m very thankful for the opportunity and excited about getting there.”
“I’m really excited about it, and I know he is as well,” Derrick said. “Some are asking ‘Why Lakeland?’ and he’s at the end of his career, and think he’s got something to give. And we’re going to be happy to be the recipient of that.”