Esports | 1/24/2019 4:08:00 PM

Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College Athletic Department announced the hiring of Doruk Hacioglu as the head eSports coach.

"I have been following the Columbia College eSports program since its inception and when I saw they had an opening for a head coach, I was looking for a place that has the same values I do in terms of long-term development and working with players over a long period of time on site," said Hacioglu.

A native of Boulder, Colorado, Doruk studied and competed as a League of Legends player at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, graduating in 2017 with a degree in Biological Sciences. During his time he also co-founded the Edinburgh League of Legends Society and was a coach for Excel eSports in the United Kingdom, leading his team to the Championship.

Following his time in Scotland, Doruk was the head coach for Wildcard Gaming, working with an all Korean roster and collecting several championships throughout the
year. In addition, he has held analyst and coaching positions in Europe and Australia coaching some of the top Challenger and Master players in the world.  

"The main focus for the program isn't only to win, but to develop talent while also allowing these players to pursue their academic career and get a degree," stated Hacioglu. "Ideally, not only are we successful in the competitive setting where we can potentially win the (Collegiate League of Legends) Championship, which is obviously a really nice, lofty goal, but it's something I think we can accomplish. We also want our players to accomplish things not necessarily related to eSports."

Doruk and the Cougars begin conference play this week when they face Park (Mo.) University on Saturday, January 26^th at 3 p.m.