Coaches Confidential: Which high school basketball coach did the best job in 2023-24?
At the end of the 2023-24 high school basketball season, the News-Leader reached out to many coaches in the area with several questions to answer with anonymity. We will run a few of these stories throughout the week.
Today's question: Which coach in the area did the "best coaching job" in 2023-24 and why?
Here are the responses by head basketball coaches throughout the area.
Boys' high school basketball
Jordan Epps did a great job leading Central through an absolutely loaded schedule. There was a lot of talent on that team, but he navigated the schedule and keeping everyone engaged and playing together was an impressive feat. John Schaefer did a great job as well at Rogersville. They had to replace a lot of holes on the team from the season before, but they have performed well from the jump.
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Brett Reed (Hartville) His team never went away and gave themselves a chance to win even after we went on a 15-0 run. Hartville also won another state championship as well.....
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John Schaefer did such a good job with his run this year. Having a freshman PG showing the poise that he had throughout the state run. Brett Reed wins another, he gets every team to play the same regardless of what kids he has.
More: Meet the News-Leader's 2023-24 All-Ozarks high school boys' basketball teams
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Matt Pitts from Thayer did a great job navigating some off-the-court issues to get his team back to the final four and finish third. Coach Guerin of Chadwick had a great year and seems to be in the hunt for a state championship each year. John Schaefer did a great job with a fairly young Rogersville team taking his team to a 3rd place finish in Class 4.
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Brett Reed. I know he can be put on this list every year, but watching his teams win every year with different players and get better throughout the season is impressive. We have played him two times per year every year and they are always better in late January than the first week of December and the jump they make is very impressive. The way they guard, rebound, pass and fill their roles is a testament to him and the program he has built. I really enjoy playing his teams because it's such a measuring stick for our team.
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J.J. Adamson (Willard) He has taken a program that was really struggling and turned it around in a couple of years. His positive attitude is incredible.
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I thought Mitch McHenry did an unbelievable job with his team this year. They were supposed to be “down” and he almost beat Central in the district championship while winning 20-plus games. J.J. Adamson did a great job as well taking his nine-win team from a year ago and winning 17 games.
More: These Springfield area boys' high school basketball underclassmen showed they're next
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Nathan Morris (Carthage). I thought his team was extremely hard to prepare for. He did a great job game to game adjusting to his players' strengths and hiding their weaknesses to give his team a chance to compete in the top half of our league. I think he got the most out of a group that was not overly talented outside of one player.
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Mitch McHenry and John Schaefer. Both these guys are always up on the top for probably different reasons. McHenry is the best coach at making game-to-game adjustments and Schaefer is easily the best at saying this is what we do, good luck dealing with it. Jack Simpson is always in there as well for us. If they make a few free throws, they play for a state championship.
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John Schaefer. In a year where his talent was extremely young and expectations were a little unknown, he put a dominant team on the floor and maxed out everything they were capable of being... like he so consistently does.
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More: Dominant Dozen: Southwest Missouri's best boys' basketball players of 2023-24 season
This is tough, there are so many great coaches who were phenomenal this year that I cannot think of just one. Jordan Fielding at Hillcrest was awesome with what he helped the Hornets do. John Schaefer did what John Schaefer does and won! Shawn Guerin at Chadwick got over the South Iron hump to win a state title. Brett Reed won another one with a new group of kids who were just tougher than anyone else. Mitch McHenry led another group at Kickapoo without a true “superstar” They played great team basketball and guarded at a high level. Robby Hoegh (Bolivar) instilled belief in a seven-win team to win a district title! Jack Simpson at Parkview was awesome, helping them not only achieve success on the court but also in the classroom. I cannot pick just one. These guys are all awesome and I am leaving out a ton of really good ones as well.
Girls' high school basketball
Katie Prichard did an amazing job at Marshfield this year. She wasn't that deep but they were always prepared and they defended well and made you play well all game long to beat them.
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Leslie Hanchey at Kickapoo. A first-year coach took the team to a second-place finish.
More: Ozarks girls' basketball coaching performances we were most impressed by in 2023-24
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I thought Jason Cole from Aurora did a really good job.
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How can you not go with Kris Flood here? Many thought this would be a rebuilding year for Republic but Coach Flood had them as a top team in the area, once again. They were a complete team, which made them one of the hardest to scout and defend. He’s shown his ability to make competitors and winners out of every group he’s coached.
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Kevin Cheek and Kris Flood. Kevin graduated a few from last year but did a great job getting his young group to compete and win at the highest level. Kris took a team with a bunch of motivated seniors and got them to all play their roles to perfection.
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Kris Flood. For a year that was supposed to be "down" post-Kaemyn Bekemeier, he had his group playing their best basketball when it mattered most. Year in and year out he had his kids prepared for post-season basketball.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield area high school basketball coaches confidential best coach
