Jim Lake begins his fifth season as the Blue Devils head coach with the 2022-23 season. Lake was announced as the Blue Devils head coach April 25, 2018. 

In the 2021-22 season, the Blue Devils hosted their first WIAC tournament game since the 2012-13 season, finishing the year at 16-9 overall. Lovell Williams was a first team All-WIAC selection, Armani Tinsley honorable mention and Jon Ciriacks was named to the all-defensive team. The Blue Devils set a new team record for points in a single game when they defeated Greenville, 125-119 in December. The Blue Devils led the WIAC in scoring and were 10th nationally in scoring, averaging 86.7 points per contest. Williams was second in the conference in scoring at 18.3 points and Tinsley was sixth with 15.8. 

Lake's Blue Devils have finished in the top four of scoring in the conference all three seasons, with the 2018-19 (73.5) and 2019-20 (74.0) teams finishing fourth, while the 2020-21 team finished second, averaging 75.1 points during the COVID-19 abbreviated season. The 2020-21 team had TYreese Alexander and Armani Tinsley garnered All-WIAC honorable mention honors and freshman Lovell Williams was selected as the newcomer of the year. Alexander was third in the WIAC in shooting percentage (.585)  and Williams was second in the league in 3-point shooting (.545).

Jon Ciriacks earned All-WIAC honorable mention honors during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. 
 
Lake had been the lead assistant men's basketball coach at Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, Mich., for five seasons, 2013-14 to 2017-19 and was with the Bulldog program for 10 total seasons, serving as an assistant coach from 2011-13 and as a volunteer assistant from 2003-06.  Lake was the lead assistant when Ferris State captured the 2018 NCAA Division II national title.
 
"I am fired up and ready to get to work," Lake said when he accepted the position. "I have a lot of respect for the level of basketball in the WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). This position gives me the opportunity to coach in the best league of Division III at a terrific institution."
 
Lake would like to instill more than the game of basketball into the players who are part of the Blue Devil program.
 
"I want our players to have an attitude and frame of mind to move them forward in their lives," Lake said. "Our players will have a positive attitude, a solid work ethic and be servants that are not afraid to work for each other, but still hold each other accountable."
 
Lake served at Ferris State University for a total of 10 years, the last five years beginning with the 2013-14 season as the program's top assistant men's basketball coach. Lake had served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Bulldogs in two different stints over the previous decade, working as a part-time assistant coach from 2011-13 before moving up to the full-time lead position, and as a volunteer assistant coach from 2003-06.

During five seasons as the Bulldogs' top assistant coach, Lake helped Ferris State to four consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament championships and four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, culminating in a 38-1 overall record and the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with a 71-69 win over Northern State University in March.
 
During the 2016-17 season, the Bulldogs compiled a then school all-time best 28-5 overall record while winning both the GLIAC's regular season and tournament titles. FSU also advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals. The Bulldogs finished the 2015-16 season with a 24-10 overall record and reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, while finishing its first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the late 1980's. 

Lake began his collegiate coaching career with the Bulldogs as a volunteer assistant under former head coach Bill Sall from 2003-06.  During that time, the Bulldogs claimed back-to-back GLIAC North Division championships and made two-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen showing in 2004-05.

After leaving the Bulldog program to serve as a club coach for the Grand Rapids Storm, he returned to FSU in 2011-12 and helped the Bulldogs to a share of a second-straight GLIAC North Division crown in his first season back with the program.  

As an assistant coach, Lake was heavily involved with nearly every facet of the program such as recruiting, player development, academics and organizing summer camps. He's also played a key role in administrative and fundraising duties as the top assistant.

In addition to his collegiate coaching background with the Bulldogs, Lake also brings nearly 17 years of coaching experience at the high school level, including nine seasons as a varsity basketball coach at both the Class B and D levels in Michigan.  During the 1996-97 campaign at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Academy, he was the youngest (21) head coach for a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) member school.  

Besides serving as a coach with the Grand Rapids Storm organization, Lake has also been a teacher in the Chippewa Hills school district and served as the school's varsity basketball coach.  During his time with the Storm, as a 16-and-under coach, he compiled a 123-32 mark while coaching 35 players who moved on to collegiate basketball, including 11 NCAA Division I players and several who have played in the GLIAC. Lake has also previously worked basketball camps at Ferris State, Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan.
 
Lake received his bachelor's in Education with an emphasis in social studies and a minor in history from Central Michigan University in 1999. He later earned a master's in Sports and Recreation with an emphasis in coaching from Ohio University.

A native of Spokane, Wash., Lake was raised in Michigan and graduated from North Branch (Mich.) High School in 1994, participating in football and basketball, earning all-area and all-conference football accolades. 

Lake and his wife, Kara, enjoy family life with their two children, Abigail and Peter.
 
Lake is the 16th coach of the Blue Devil men's basketball program, a program that began in 1907.

Jim Lakes's Career Record
Year, Overall, WIAC (place)
2018-19, 6-19, 0-14 (8th)
2019-20, 6-19, 2-12 (7th, tie)
2020-21, 3-6, 3-5 (4th, West Division)
2021-22, 16-9, 7-6 (4th, tie)
Total, 31-53, 13-41 WIAC