Joe Lewandowski.

PITTSBURGH — Remove the interim tag.

Joe Lewandowski is staying on as the head men's basketball coach at Point Park University.

A freshman English teacher at the Butler Intermediate School and former Golden Tornado varsity boys and girls basketball coach, Lewandowski accepted the Point Park job on an interim basis last fall.

The team was coming off a 4-22 season and was picked to finish last in the 13-team River States Conference. Instead, Lewandowski led the Pioneers to a 9-18 record and a berth in the league's eight-team tournament.

He was named the Pioneers' permanent head coach Friday.

“Looking at the big picture, he is the right person for this job,” Point Park Director of Athletics John Ashaolu said. “Coach Lewandowski understands the mission of our school.

“He knows our kids are students first and athletes second. He has put together showcases to market the program and market the school.”

Ashaolu added that Lewandowski “is well-respected in the basketball community and that will aid him in recruiting.”

Lewandowski also coaches USA 3-on-3 and AAU basketball. His daughter, Kylee, will be entering her senior year as a standout player on the North Catholic High School girls basketball team.

“This is an incredible opportunity,” Lewandowski said. “Helping to prepare student-athletes for the future is a privilege and I'm excited about it.

“I originally accepted the job on an interim basis to see if it was viable for both sides to sustain it. Everything worked out.”

Lewandowski travels to practice in Pittsburgh every day after school during training camp and the basketball season. His assistants, Daryn Freeman and Christian Harbaugh, were also first-year coaches at Point Park this past season and have been retained.

“They are excellent coaches and they don't have other jobs right now, so they can handle things with the players when I'm not there,” Lewandowski said.

“Being a teacher, I'm off during the summer, which are our prime recruiting months. It all works.”

Point Park has made five NAIA tournament appearances and won five conference championships in its history. Pioneer men's basketball has 723 wins and a .513 winning percentage all-time.

“There is a winning tradition here and we're trying to get back to that,” Lewandowski said. “Point Park had never reached the (River States) tournament before, so that was a good step.

“Pittsburgh is a fantastic city and western Pennsylvania is overlooked in terms of the quality of high school basketball here. We are recruiting local kids and we'll continue to do that. We want these kids to stay home and play for us.

Garrett McHenry played for Butler County Community College and he's joining us. I'm confident we'll get some local high school players as well as time goes on,” Lewandowski added.