Battling to the Top

By Tessa Mentus

Basketball and Kornel Battle are very well acquainted. The two have been together since Battle played the sport in high school and even now as he enters his first year as director of basketball operations for Syracuse University’s women’s basketball team. Before coming to Syracuse, Battle held the same position at Vanderbilt University, but working for Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman is something Battle considered in the past.

“Coach Q (Hillsman) and I have known each other for years, and I’m very familiar with him,” Battle said. “We’ve been in conversation during the past couple of years about considering me for a position on his staff.”

The responsibilities Battle faces at Syracuse are countless; just ask him what his position entails.

“Everything…I work closely with Lakisha Covington (coordinator of player development), she and I balance each other very well as far as travel and academics,” Battle stated. “I wear so many hats I kind of forget everything I do. I schedule visiting team practices and handle film exchange, but basically I am a liaison between the student athletes in our program and the coaching staff.”

Overseeing basketball operations is just one of the ways Battle has been involved with the sport over the years. At one point in his life he was a player of the game.

“I played in high school and then two years in junior college, and then from there I let it go to chase other opportunities, Battle said.”

One of those opportunities was being head coach of girls’ basketball at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. His coaching also progressed when he took the reigns of an AAU Girls Basketball Team. Throughout the years Battle has coached more than 30 Division I women’s basketball players. Although coaching was a major part of his life, Battle believes his current position puts him into the mainstream of the sport.

“I think in order to get to where I want to be you have to learn and do this part of the job,” Battle said. “It helps you balance out the program as a whole. I think people on the outside don’t see everything that goes into building a program.”

Battle knows what it takes to form a successful program. Before taking the position at Syracuse, Battle was director of basketball operations for women’s basketball head coach Melanie Balcomb at Vanderbilt University for three years. In that time, Battle watched the Commodores have back-to-back trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and win the Southeastern Conference championship in 2007. Battle credits his time at Vanderbilt for much of his success in his career.

“I understand this stuff; I mean I actually had a great, great teacher in Melanie Balcomb at Vanderbilt,” Battle stated. “I respect her so much as a coach and she actually taught me about the professionalism to this side of the business.”

Battle hopes to bring Vanderbilt’s winning theme to Syracuse. Although he’s not on the coaching side of the Orange, Battle intends to contribute to the progress and advancement of Syracuse’s women’s basketball program.

“Out of everything I hope I could bring that mentality here. It’s a different mind frame, it’s a different mid set, and that’s what I would like to bring,” Battle said. “Just to give different opinions and different ideas because the bottom line is we want to get to where Vanderbilt is, and that’s the goal. Everybody knows the ultimate goal is to win a championship, and one day we’ll get there if we keep doing what we’re doing, working hard and progressing towards that goal.”

Syracuse University Athletics

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