Chattanooga's tourney appearance turns out to be Klimchock family affair

As Laura Klimchock left the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh Friday afternoon with her father, Rick, she told him she felt sick.

The No. 13-seeded University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, coached by Laura’s longtime boyfriend, Lamont Paris, was about to take on heavily favored No. 4 seed Illinois in a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena.

“Well, what can you do about it?” asked Rick Klimchock.

“I said, ‘Well nothing, but I’m really nervous,’” answered Laura. “This is the biggest game of his career. I’m really excited to be able to support him and his team.”

Laura and Rick made their way to their second-row seats behind the Chattanooga bench.

She was no stranger to big games.

Laura Klimchock was an all-conference shooting guard for Greenburg Salem High School who went on to play at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.

She’s from a basketball family — Rick coaches the Greensburg Salem girls team, and her brother, Chris, who also was at Friday’s game, coaches the men’s team at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

If Laura felt sick before Friday’s Chattanooga-Illinois game, her stomach must have positively been in knots during it. The Mocs nearly pulled off one of those early round shockers for which the tourney is known.

They led for nearly the entire game before a pair of free throws made by Illinois’ Alfonso Plummer with 12 seconds left prevented a Cinderella victory for Chattanooga. Illinois ended up winning, 54-53.

“I’ve coached for 44 years, and it felt like I lost the game myself. That’s how bad I felt,” Rick Klimchock said Saturday.

“It was a very exciting game. It was two physical, defense-oriented teams going at it,” he said. “I thought Lamont did a great job of coaching.

“Oh my God, what they did to stop Illinois was great. Their defense was ferocious, and that comes from great coaching. They just needed to make a few more baskets.”

Despite the disappointing ending, things worked out well for the Klimchock and Paris families. Having Chattanooga playing in a bracket in Pittsburgh — when they just as easily could have ended up in Portland or San Diego — allowed many members of both families to attend.

Paris’ family is from Findlay, Ohio, just over three-and-a-half hours away.

“I don’t want to speak for him, but it’s one of the most proud moments of his career — the first time going to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach,” said Laura. “It’s just amazing to see what he’s accomplished.”

They met at the University of Akron. Laura was working with the men’s basketball team as an academic adviser, and Lamont was an assistant coach . After that, Paris worked as an assistant coach for Wisconsin for seven years under Bo Ryan. He’s in his fifth season as head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Laura and Lamont share a special bond because of their basketball backgrounds, she said.

“It’s unbelievable,” Laura said. “It’s a really special relationship because I played college basketball. We’re able to sit down and eat dinner together and talk basketball on a different level.

“We’re able to talk about ‘Oh, did you see that screen?’ or, ‘He should have kicked it out to the corner instead of driving to the hoop.’ So that’s what I think makes our relationship really special,” she said. “Basketball runs through our veins. It means so much to both of us.”

Laura works as a district manager for Scooter’s Coffee in Chattanooga. But, even though her basketball career is over, she still watches film with Paris and gives him plenty of advice.

He’ll likely need it, too, because this probably is not his last Big Dance.