The former Rice Memorial High School and University of Vermont star from Shelburne has returned to the area of his finest achievements, but this time he'll be on the sidelines, not flicking basketball through the hoop with unerring accuracy. He's the newly appointed director of operations for the UVM men's basketball program after serving for two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "The opportunity presented itself and I felt like it would be a good time to come back, and I'm really excited about it," Cieplicki told the Burlington Free Press after UVM head coach Mike Lonergan made the announcement.
During an interview with the Shelburne News prior to his UVM appointment, Cieplicki talked about the transition from player to coach. That has been a family tradition, from the time his grandfather, Bernie, was first a star for St. Michael's College before becoming a legend in Vermont high school coaching ranks at Rice. Father Kevin, who played at St. Lawrence, was a longtime coach at Rice and uncles Bernie (UVM as player; St. Michael's as coach) and Keith (Williams & Mary as player; UVM and Syracuse as coach) have continued the tradition. Brother Sam plays for St. Michael's College. "It's always intrigued me from an early age, seeing my father and my uncles coach," said Kyle Cieplicki of coaching. "I had always considered it but not seriously until I was done playing." That was in 2008, which he completed his third season as UVM captain by averaging 10.6 points per game.

A year later, Cieplicki joined the Brown University staff of Jesse Agel, the longtime UVM assistant and former associate head coach. Cieplicki was the third assistant, an unpaid position - "My parents helped me out; I was on scholarship at UVM and they put me on scholarship at Brown," he said - that offered no money but experience and a taste of coaching. As a volunteer, he served as director of operations, but because the position was unpaid, he could also take part in the on-court activities. "I handled all the administrative details, travel, equipment, film exchange, but I was also completely involved with basketball," he said. "I was the point man on video and game scout, but I also helped run workouts and I helped coach during the games as well. I was able to put in my two cents here and there. "I could also be part of recruiting, get out on the road and cut my teeth there," he said.

This spring, the Brown and Vermont staffs lost assistants and UVM's Lonergan expressed interest in bringing Cieplicki back to the Catamounts. Though he was still under consideration for promotion at Brown, Cieplicki elected to join UVM, where he will serve as director of operations, or fourth assistant. Though he had grown up around coaches, Cieplicki conceded he was still surprised by "just how time-consuming it is and how much goes into it.

"Players don't see that side; you go to class, go to practice, go to games. You don't realize all the work hours coaches put into it to be a success," he said. "It was a shock the first couple of months on the job. It's really a 24-7 thing and it's not really that way as a player," he added. "As a player, if you have a bad game, you tend to shrug it off and come back the next time. Coaches tend to take it a little bit harder."

And then there's the "helpless feeling on the bench during the game," as Cieplicki put it, "especially for me being so young, so closely removed from being out there on the floor." "It really makes you have to be really sharp in the way communicate with players, quickly, concise and get the point across."

Despite the pressure, Cieplicki said the high points - beyond winning - include player development. "I find it most gratifying to see each individual player improve, when you throw in a tip here and there and see them get better, watch the collective improvement of the team and the individual," he said.

If you have a suggestion for a profile of a Shelburne athlete or a Shelburne resident connected with sports, please contact me at Ted RyanVT@aol.com.