Bio

Corey Symons returns to North Idaho College for his 18th season with the men’s program and his 8th as the head coach. In six seasons as head coach, he holds a record of 174-25 which is an 87% winning margin and an average of 27.7 wins per year. NIC men’s basketball has not had a season under 25 wins under the leadership of Symons, and he has led the Cardinals to four conference championships. In 2015-2016 he led the Cardinals to the only undefeated regular season in school history and Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) history and earned a trip to the NJCAA national tournament. Last season, the Cardinals finished the season with a 28-1 record. Under the direction of coach Symons, the Cardinals have brought home four league titles, and has six straight seasons ranked in the top 25 pre-season national polls. Off last year’s roster, nine players signed NCAA scholarships (three DII, six DI) including Nate Pryor signing with University of Washington. The Cardinals had three former players play in the NBA summer league with two of them signing NBA contracts.

Prior to his promotion, Symons finished his 10th season as an assistant coach with the NIC staff. Symons played a major role in recruiting 50+ student-athletes that have continued on to 4-year institutions. His recruits helped NIC earn an NJCAA No. 1 national ranking, and a consistent spot in the national polls. During Symons tenure as an assistant coach, NIC averaged 22 wins a year, including three SWAC championships. He was also involved in academic advising of student-athletes and NIC men’s basketball team has traditionally attained a cumulative GPA higher than the overall student body population. Men’s Basketball has achieved Team Academic All-American status twice in the last four years with a 3.0 team GPA. These are the only times this has been accomplished in the history of the program.

Before NIC, Symons was an assistant high school coach for five seasons. He coached one season at Bellevue (WA) Christian High School, and four at Post Falls (ID) High School.

Symons redshirted at NIC in 1993 under legendary coach Rolly Williams. He then went on to play at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, OR and Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash. Symons averaged 16 points per game in his final season and was team captain at Northwest University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Administration. After college, Symons played internationally in Europe. He recently completed his masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine.

Symons is a North Idaho native, and a graduate of Falls Christian Academy. He is married to Nicole (Nipp) Symons who is also highly involved in the North Idaho community. Nicole is starting her 19th year in education at Lakes Middle School. She is also the head girls’ coach at CDA high school as well as overseeing multiple North Idaho Elite AAU teams. Together they are proud parents of Madison (17) who was IEL co-player of the year as a freshman, and Caden (14).