The Umatilla School District officially announced Thursday Derrek Lete has been hired as head coach of the Umatilla boys basketball team.

Lete comes to the Vikings after three years as head coach of the Echo girls basketball team. He compiled a 30-40 record during that time.

Lete will also be teaching in the resource room at the high school.

Im excited, Lete said. Im looking forward to the opportunity to coach over there. It kind of arose toward the end of the school year. There was a teaching position, and then the basketball position had opened up shortly afterwards. Someone had approached me and asked if I was interested, and I jumped on it and took the opportunity.

Lete will now jump from the ranks of 1A to 3A division basketball. He is taking over a Umatilla boys basketball program that has amassed just two wins in the last two seasons.

Lete is relishing the opportunity, however.

Ive been doing the summer workouts with the football and basketball players, Lete said. Im excited to work with those kids. I think theyre excited, and Im definitely excited. I know theres a lot of potential coming into the program.

With no seniors on the roster, Lete will have a chance to institute his philosophies from the onset, he said and that begins with establishing connections with his players, he said.

Relationships are important to them, Lete said. If they know Im in it for the right reasons and they know I have their back, theyll go to bat for me. That will be the biggest challenge for me is getting these kids to buy into it. Some of my styles are a little different. Its a change, and Im looking forward to it.

During his time at Echo, Lete said his offense and defensive techniques changed each year. Rather than set his style in stone, he likes to cater to his personnel.

His players, however, will work hard regardless of what style of play they adopt, he said.

Were going to hustle, and were going to fly around, Lete said. Were going to do all the little things to get us over that hump.

In addition to his experience at Echo, Lete has also served as a lacrosse coach and C-team basketball coach at Hermiston High School. He was also the head coach of an AAU baseball team this summer.

Lete said he will certainly garner advice from the network of coaches he has encountered during his time.

Lete said he thinks his prior coaching experience and the contacts hes made will help him quite a bit in his new position.

For not coaching a whole lot of years, I feel like I have some good experience coaching other people,?Lete said. Some of the guys in the community are guys Ive coached with (they know) what it takes and what it entails to be a successful coach.

Certainly, Lete will have his work cut out for him at Umatilla High School. From the classroom to the basketball court, he said this is a great opportunity for him.

It was tough for me to leave Echo, Lete said. The three years I was there, we were pretty successful. Its tough when you build those relationships with the players, staff and community. It definitely wasnt an easy decision. Its always tough a new change. But I think its for the better.