Knight Basketball Coaching Staff
Head Varsity Coach
 Mr. Nick Lowe is entering his seventh season at the helm of the Knights. Mr. Lowe has been a member of the St. Francis basketball staff for the past 14 seasons. The 2006-2007 Knights posted an 13-7 record and played in the City League semi-final game. The 2004-05 Knights accumulated a 16-6 record with a 9-2 City League record and also sectional and district appearances. Because of the success of the Knights in 2004-2005, Coach Lowe was named City League and District Coach of the Year.
Mr. Lowe is a graduate of Central Catholic High School, where he lettered twice in basketball, and served as team captain during his senior year. Mr. Lowe graduated from the University of Toledo with a degree in Comprehensive Social Studies/Education, and he presently teaches American Government and World History at St. Francis.
Coach Lowe and his wife Christie have two children - a five-year-old son Cameron, who is an avid St. Francis and Duke fan, and a two-and-a-half-year old daughter Lauren, who will also be cheering on the Knights. Coach Lowe and his family reside in West Toledo and are members of St. Pius X Parish.
Assistant Varsity Coach
 Mr. Chris Stein begins his seventh season with the St. Francis basketball team, and his first year as varsity assistant.
Currently Mr. Stein, an SFS graduate of the Class of 1994, is in his eighth year at St. Francis, teaching American History and World History, and serving as Chairman of the Social Studies Department. Mr. Stein is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Angie have three children, son Brendan, age four , and twin one-year-old daughters Madison and Paige. They live in Perrysburg and are members of Blessed John XXIII Parish there.
Assistant Varsity Coach
 Mr. Jim Mericle began coaching in 1965 at Genoa Jr. High followed by stints as freshman and then JV coach at Genoa High School while teaching Math and English. Mr. Mericle then taught at Eisenhower Jr. High while coaching freshman basketball. He next coached freshman basketball for three years at Central Catholic HS, where his team won a City championship. As varsity assistant the following year, he coached young Nick Lowe, now the Knights Varsity coach. Coach Mericle retired as a guidance counselor in 1995, and continued with his silk-screening business (M&W Silkscreening), then coached a year of JV basketball at Bowsher before joining the Knight staff in 2004. He has been married to Sue for 45 years; they have five children and 5 grandchildren.
Head Junior Varsity Coach
 Mr. Lincoln Kynard enters his second year on the St. Francis basketball staff, and his first year as the Junior Varsity Head Coach. Lincoln is a graduate of Maumee Valley Country Day School, where he continues to hold several records in both basketball and track. Lincoln later returned to his alma mater to coach the varsity girls for six seasons, winning the school's first-ever sectional championship while developing two All-Ohio recognized players. He has also been distinguished as the Toledo Area Athletic Conference's Coach of the Year (2000-2001), and District Seven's Coach of the Year (2000-2001).
Lincoln earned a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education from the University of Toledo, and a Master's degree in Education Administration and Supervision from Bowling Green State University. He has worked as a junior high and high school English teacher, and school principal.
On how he views his role as a coach, he says, "My concern lies with the development of the whole child. I aim for athletes to learn lessons in competitiveness, teamwork, and the importance of the fundamentals; mostly to understand how such skills and knowledge transcend athletics and apply to life."
Assistant Junior Varsity Coach
Mr. Mark Paszko, a 1985 graduate of St. Francis, has joined the coaching staff as asssistant JV basketball coach. Mr. Paszko started his coaching career as a volunteer coach for St. Vincent de Paul School, coaching there for many years and helping the students develop their skills for high school. He was also the Athletic Director at St. Vincent de Paul.
His next coaching position was at Waite High School, where he started out coaching the freshman basketball team. His impressive coaching skills earned him the position of JV coach and assistant Varsity coach. He coached at Waite for 10 years.
Mr. Paszko is looking forward to the opportunity of returning to his alma mater and being able to coach the talented athletes of St. Francis. His passion for coaching and his love of basketball is evident to all who know him.
Mr. Paszko is self-employed as an independent distributor for Snyders of Hanover.
Head Freshman Coach
 Mr. Jim Burnor begins his seventh season as the Head Freshman Basketball coach at St. Francis, and his ninth year on the SFS staff. Mr. Burnor is a 1992 graduate of St. Francis, where he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. During his senior year he served as class vice president and captain of his basketball team.
Mr. Burnor graduated from Xavier University in 1996 with a liberal arts degree. While at Xavier, he was a pitcher in the baseball program.
Mr. Burnor's previous coaching experience includes coaching the McCord Jr. High football team, the St. Francis basketball and baseball teams, and he was also an assistant coach for the St. Francis Junior Varsity basketball team.
Mr. Burnor is a real estate appraiser and insurance agent with Burnor Appraisal Service. He is married to Erin Upman, who teaches at Springfield Jr. High. They have two daughters: Jenna, who is 13 and attends St. Patrick of Heatherdowns School and Peyton, who is four and one-year-old son Easton.
Assistant Freshman Coach
 Mr. Barry Murphy begins his third year as the Assistant Freshman Basketball Coach. He is a 1968 graduate of Macomber High School, where he played football and basketball. He is also a veteran of the United States Air Force. He officiated basketball and football in the 1980's and 1990's, and he has coached CYO teams for nine years.
Mr. Murphy has been married to Jeanne for 36 years; they have two children: a son Josh, who is a 1993 SFS graduate, and a daughter Meghan, who graduated from Central Catholic.
Assistant Freshman Coach
Mr. Chuck Neptune enters his first year on the St. Francis staff as an assistant to the freshman team. He is a 1985 graduate of Central Catholic High School, where he excelled and earned varsity letters in both basketball and baseball. Chuck has coached the past six years at Bowsher High School, the last three as the varsity assistant.
Chuck currently is the warehouse manager at D & E Automotive. He has three sons: step-son Michael, who is serving in the U.S. Army in Korea, Justin, a St. Francis freshman, and Blake, who is a sixth grader at Springfield Middle School.
Head Freshman "Red" Coach
 Mr. Rick Syroka joins the St. Francis coaching staff for his fifth season as the Head Coach of the Freshman "Red" team. Rick is a graduate of Start High School, where he played football and baseball, and was a football captain his senior year. Rick attended both B.G.S.U. and the University of Toledo. He then played professional basketball in the European Basketball League, and lived in Manchester, England. He has played men's federation basketball for many years and his team won the state federation championship four times.
He is a long time coach of many sports in the Washington Local School District. Most recently, he was an assistant coach for two years for the girls junior high program, as well as coaching high school CYO basketball.
Rick joined the Toledo Fire Department in 1989 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2000. Coach Syroka and his wife Wendy are members of Christ the King Parish. They have a daughter, Sara, who is a sophomore at Kent State University, and a son, Ben, who is an SFS freshman.
Assistant Freshman "Red" Coach
 Mr. Robert Ramirez joins the St. Francis coaching staff for his fifth season. He is returning for his fourth year at the freshman level, after a year as an assistant with the JV team. He spent six years at St. Mary's Junior High in the CYO program. While at St. Mary's, Coach Ramirez took the team to the Diocesan Finals. He then continued his career coaching seven years at Start and Woodward High Schools.
Coach Ramirez has been a letter carrier for the Sylvania Post Office for the past 20 years. In 1997 he received the Postal Service's National President's Hero Award for his role in saving the life of Monsignor Jerome Schmit.
Mr. Ramirez has three children, Frank, Elizabeth, and Anthony, and six grandchildren.
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