In Sofia, Bulgaria in 1992, twin boys were born to Dragomir Asenov and his wife Zhivka Lukov. Ognyan (which means fire) was born first, and he was followed a few minutes later by “younger” brother Kostadin (“Dinko” being his diminuitive name).
As the boys grew up in Sofia, they soon outgrew their parents, with the elder Oggy (as his parents and friends referred to Ognyan) reaching 6’7” by the time he was 17 and the “little brother” Kostadin towering over everyone at an imposing 6’10” and 240 pounds.
By this point, both boys were all in on basketball, as their size and strength made it come naturally. Dinko was the mild-mannered big man with soft hands who drew looks from shocked citizens wherever he went. Oggy was more of a bulldog, both in demeanor and playstyle. He was aggressive, loud, and used his strength all over the court. Being the shorter of the two led many to think that he would have better ball skills, but it was the taller brother who had the handle and soft touch. To make up for what he lacked in skill, Oggy would never stop and tenaciously pursue the ball for rebounds, recoveries, and steals.
Dragomir and Zhivka, seeing that Dinko had a chance to do something with his basketball talent, inquired with some friends they had in the city government. It turns out that Sofia is a sister city with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the colleges and universities in Pittsburgh will regularly recruit students from Sofia to attend school in America. Several months later, Kostadin had a scholarship to play basketball for the Duquesne Dukes. His parents were thrilled that their son was attending a good Catholic school in America and the news got even better: Oggy was going to walk on to the Robert Morris Colonials team and they were granted visas to come stay in Pittsburgh and watch their two boys play basketball and get a great education.
Two Pittsburgh private schools, one color scheme. (Dukes on the left, Colonials on the right)
Unfortunately, after just 2 seasons for the Dukes, Dinko and his then fiancé Stephanie were in an awful car accident on the Pittsburgh freeway. Pinned between a semi and the guardrail, the car crumpled, but not enough. Stephanie would be paralyzed from the waist down and Dinko’s basketball career was over. He lost function of 2 fingers in his shooting hand and had an everpresent limp in his walk. However, Duquesne honored his scholarship and kept him on as an assistant. He loved basketball and had the kind of quiet and steady demeanor that helped to calm the nerves of other college boys. He and Stephanie got married and his parents moved in with them to help care for Stephanie – they were growing to love Pittsburgh and this gave them one more reason to put down roots here.
Across town, Oggy never played much for Robert Morris. He had the height of a small forward but the mobility of a big man. He stayed on for 5 years, managing to get a B.A. and M.A. in Organizational Leadership from the university and effectively serving as a graduate assistant his last two years on the team (while still getting a few minutes of game time each year). Oggy was not the best basketball player, but he was determined to be the best coach Bulgaria had ever produced. He was driven, motivated, and loud; just like most college coaches. When asked about his goals at graduation day, he responded “I will be winning NCAA and NBA titles as a coach…and if my brother doesn’t have a title yet, I’ll bring him on as a coach to get one as well.”
That drive served him well as he worked his way up to the primary assistant coach at Robert Morris before he was given a great opportunity: take over as the head coach at rising Northern Colorado. The Bears have tasted small amounts of success, which saw their coach get poached by a bigger program. He relished the opportunity, he felt he could bring domination to the Big Sky Conference and loved the chance to live next to the mountains. The Bears had a big man and a good shooter, and he felt that was something he could build on for this year…though with his ambition you couldn’t be sure how long he’d be around for.
Oggy is the new head coach of the University of Northern Colorado at 27 years old.
Meanwhile, Kostadin was having success of his own. With his post-accident pain mostly managed and his parents helping out, he and Stephanie had adopted a young girl of their own. He continued to serve as an assistant coach for Duquesne and really wanted to be a head coach. His intelligence and humility was highly valued by all those around him, but he was unwilling to relocate his family. It was hard enough for his parents to move across the world, he wasn’t going to ask them and his disabled wife to move across the country for a job he might lose in 2 years.
Fortunately, there was another Catholic school not too far away that was interested in Dinko. St. Francis University was just 80 miles away in Loretto, PA and was looking for a new head coach. The Red Flash have only ever appeared in 1 NCAA tournament, and that was nearly 29 years ago in 1991. It wasn’t a great program, but Dinko loved the opportunity. It would mean long hours, but he’d make the commute back and forth a few times a week and would take advantage of the extended college offseason to spend time with his family back in Pittsburgh. Deep down Dinko wanted something more prestigious and was a bit envious of his brother, but he also knew he had his priorities right. Maybe someday Duquesne, or even Pitt, would come calling and he could lead them to glory. Until then, he was going to work as hard as he could where he was.
Kostadin “Dinko” Dragomirov is the new head coach of the St. Francis Red Flash for 2019-2020 season.
This is just the beginning of their story, read on to see where they go and what happens in the NCAA and NBA during their tenure.
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