By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The 16th head coach in the storied history of the Hutchinson Community College Men’s Basketball program is officially on the job.
Blue Dragon athletic director Josh Gooch formally introduced Kyle Fisher as the new leader of the Blue Dragons at a news conference on Wednesday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The news conference followed a Hutchinson Community College Board of Trustees meeting where the hiring of Fisher was approved.
Fisher takes the reigns of the Blue Dragon men’s basketball program from Tommy DeSalme, who resigned to take a coaching position in his hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The new Blue Dragon men’s head coach comes to Hutchinson after a successful five-year stint at Butler Community College. His run at Butler included five Top 4 Jayhawk Conference finishes, two appearances in the Region 6 Tournament championship game and one regional title. Fisher’s Grizzly team’s 2023 appearance in the NJCAA Tournament advanced all the way to the national quarterfinals.
Fisher’s five-year record at Butler was 113-42, including 78-34 in Jayhawk Conference games. Four times Fisher’s teams reached 20 victories.
A staple of Fisher’s teams at Butler was tough defensive teams. Fisher had five Top-5 defensive scoring average finishes in the Jayhawk Conference, including leading the second-best defensive team in the KJCCC this past season (68.3 points per game allowed). Fisher’s 2019-20 team led the KJCCC in defensive field-goal percentage (36.9 percent).
Fisher’s 2022-23 team went 26-9 team finished fourth in the KJCCC, but caught fire down the stretch and won a Region VI championship. Opening as at the No. 10 seed, the Grizzlies advanced to the national quarterfinals. Four Grizzlies earned All-KJCCC honors in 2022-23. Isaiah Williams was named second team All-KJCCC as well as an All-Defensive team member. Rob Brown and Isaac Ondekane were named to the conferences all-second team and Tahjae Hill was named honorable mention.
Over his five seasons at Butler, Fisher mentored 15 all-conference.
Before Butler, Fisher spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Coffeyville Community College, serving as the associate head coach in his final two seasons.
During Fisher’s seven seasons on the Red Raven staff, Coffeyville had a 179-55 record with four trips to the national tournament – including three straight appearances along with a National Semifinal finish in the 2018-19 season.
Prior to Coffeyville, Fisher served as the top assistant at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Arizona. for two seasons. Before Eastern Arizona, Fisher served two seasons as the top assistant at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa. Fisher’s first coaching position was as a graduate assistant for his Washburn University in Topeka.
As a player, Fisher was a four-year member of Washburn’s basketball team where he played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Chipman.
A native of Liberty, Missouri, Fisher graduated from Liberty High in 2003. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Washburn University and an M.S. in Sports Administration from the University of Central Missouri.
Fisher, and his wife, Kathryn, have two daughters – Grace (8) and Rose (7).
