Basketball has shaped new Perkins girls coach Leia Lyden

PERKINS TWP. — Leia Lyden says "basketball runs in my blood." Lyden was approved as Perkins' new girls basketball coach at Wednesday night's school board meeting and then talked about what basketball means to her. "It's really shaped who I am," Lyden said. "The experiences I had in college weren't exactly what I expected, but through trial and error I was able to figure out who I am and what I like and don't like and translate that into a coaching career. "I've loved the game since Day 1. I started basketball when I was in first grade. It's an itch I want to scratch. It's something I really enjoy." School board member Ted Kastor congratulated the new coach. He was on the search committee and came away impressed when Lyden interviewed last month. "When she left the room we all looked at each other and said, 'That's our coach,' " Kastor said. Perkins athletic director Brad Watson said he got nearly 10 applicants and conducted four interviews. The application deadline was extended when Watson didn't get enough applicants early in the process. "The first round we didn't have very many applicants," he said. "I wanted to make sure we had a good timeline so we'd have a good candidate pool." Perkins is confident it got a quality coach in Lyden, who impressed the committee despite having no high school coaching experience. Lyden, who turns 27 on Friday, was an accomplished high school player at River Valley in southern Ohio before competing at three different colleges. She began her college career at the NCAA Division II level at Fairmont State in West Virginia before playing a season at the University of Virginia at Wise. She transferred to Heidelberg University and graduated in 2020. "What I lack in head coaching experience I make up for in my basketball IQ and my support team, which includes my mom, of course," she said. Lyden's mother, Sarah Evans-Moore, played at Stanford University and was the head coach at Marshall University from 1992-97. She had four winning seasons and took the Thundering Herd to the NCAA tournament in her final season. Evans-Moore, now a realtor/broker with her husband Joe Moore in Gallipolis in southern Ohio, also coached Leia in her last three years as a River Valley standout. "She's had a tremendous influence on me," Lyden said of her mom. "I've had a lot of great coaches. I might be biased but she's one of the best coaches I've had. "She has shaped me not only as a player but has shaped my knowledge of basketball. She's everything. She's gonna be on speed dial. Any kind of advice I need she'll be there for me." Lyden was a 5-foot-10 post player for most of her high school career before her mom posed a question. "She asked me if I wanted to play in college and I said I did," Lyken said. "She said that a 5-10 post player is not going to be attractive to most colleges and asked if it would be OK if I switched to guard. That helped me see things from a different perspective." One of Lyden's aunts was a 1,000-point career scorer at Ohio University and one of her grandfathers played college ball. Her uncle David Smalley is the longtime women's basketball coach at the University of Rio Grande. Lyden, who interviewed for the Perkins job last month, is married to Luke Lyden, who is an assistant football coach at Perkins. Lyden said she wants her players to do more than scratch the surface when learning about basketball. "I try to encourage the players to be students of the game. I don't want to just teach them basketball, but get to the 'why' behind it," she said. "Winning games is always success, but if the girls get better, that's also success." Lyden will be one of six women in basketball head coaching jobs across three divisions in the 22-team Sandusky Bay Conference. Lyden and Tiffin Columbian's Morgan Harrigan, who was hired last month, are the two female coaches in the Lake Division. "I think being a strong female role model is something the girls will be able to look up to and relate to," Lyden said. "That'll go a long way." Lyden will hold a meet-and-greet with her players Thursday at Perkins. She's also working on finalizing a coaching staff. "I'm not from the area; I don't have ties to anyone. I love basketball and teaching basketball," she said. "I think getting paid is a bonus. As long as I get to teach basketball I'll be happy. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the people and build relationships in the community." Lyden earned a master's degree from Ohio State in 2021 and works as a cognitive systems engineer for Mile Two, a custom software development company based in Dayton. Lyden replaces Ryan Orshoski, who stepped down in late February after two seasons as head coach. Orshoski had a 26-22 record leading the Pirates. "She's gonna handle herself well and surround herself with good coaches," Watson said. "I'm excited to see what she'll do for Perkins basketball." Perkins also named Stephanie (Gyurke) Mulvin as swim coach on Wednesday. The Perkins alumnae has been the swim coach at Notre Dame college for seven years. That college will close at the end of this school year. Mulvin was an All-Ohio swimmer at Perkins and swam at Ohio University. Mulvin will replace Brian Cassidy, who stepped down after eight seasons leading the Pirates.