Legendary Des Moines East coach Sam Powell returns to the sidelines with Waukee Northwest

Sam Powell’s voice is raspy — on the verge of disappearing temporarily — after only two days of practice.

He gathers his team at center court, in a circle surrounding the Waukee Northwest logo, and congratulates the players on another solid practice. Powell grabs a bottle of red Gatorade from one of his assistant coaches and presents it to the winner of the knockout drill.

The Wolves girls basketball coach just finished up the team's second practice of the day and his voice gives away how long it’s been since he coached.

Powell, a legendary coach at Des Moines East between 2004 and 2019, stepped away from the sidelines four years ago to focus on family.

But when another esteemed coach, Chris Guess, left his head coaching position at Waukee Northwest to become an assistant at Northwest Missouri State, it was the perfect opportunity for Powell. He first needed to get approval from his youngest daughter, Jada.

Family-first hiatus after years of putting basketball on top

Powell hasn’t coached since 2019, and that wasn’t by accident.

His oldest daughter, Samisha, played college basketball at Georgetown. But her career lined up with the height of Powell’s success at East, so he missed most of her games.

He didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

When his youngest daughter, Jada, graduated from East, Powell knew he needed to do something different this time around.

“I decided to hang it up,” Powell said. “These are the only two girls I’ve got."

It was because of Jada, though, that Powell felt like he could make his return to coaching.

Powell followed Jada’s career from DMACC to Merrimack. She had an additional season of eligibility because of COVID-19, and Jada transferred to the University of West Georgia as a graduate student. Her father was prepared to follow her there, too, before the Waukee Northwest position became available.

“I wouldn’t have taken this job if she hadn’t given me her blessings,” Sam Powell said. “But she felt like, I’d already seen her for four years and she believed, ‘God has a purpose for you and I think you should take the job.’”

One coaching legend takes over for another

A trip back in time is helpful to understand why Powell was the right fit to lead Northwest’s girls basketball program.

In May, Guess announced that he would leave the Wolves to become an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State. It was a shocking announcement for a community that had known one girls basketball coach for over two decades.

“I’ve had one guy as my girls basketball coach for over 20 years,” Northwest activities director Jim Duea said. “And our community kind of felt that way too.”

Filling the void left by Guess' departure was a tall task.

The former Waukee Northwest coach — whose career took him to Centerville, Glenwood, Ottumwa and Waukee — compiled a 489-219 overall record. He won two state titles at Waukee and led his teams to 15 total state tournament appearances.

Guess was inducted into the Iowa Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. He was also a finalist for the National Coach of the Year in 2022 and a nominee in 2015. He won Class 5A State Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2021.

So, when it came time to find who would follow Guess at Northwest, the answer was to fill the gap left by a legend with another legend. Three candidates were interviewed for the position but one emerged as the top choice.

That is where Powell entered the conversation.

In 15 years at Des Moines East, Powell compiled an overall record of 253-88. He led the Scarlets to five state tournament appearances, including a state championship in 2011 and a runner-up finish in 2010.

East won 13 metro conference titles, including three undefeated seasons, under Powell, who was a seven-time CIML Metro Conference Coach of the Year. Powell was named Iowa’s Coach of the Year in 2011. The school even named its court after him in 2022.

He also holds the distinction of being Iowa’s first and only Black coach to lead a team to a girls state basketball title.

Guess and Duea both knew Powell from the days when Waukee and East competed against each other. Over several years of tense battles on the court, Powell and Guess a mutual respect and friendship.

While Powell joked that he’s taller than Guess, he acknowledged that he and Guess mimic each other in the way they play the game, their aggressiveness and their connections with the community. And the new Northwest coach had nothing but praise for his predecessor.

“At the end of the day, I can’t say enough about Coach Guess,” Powell said. “I don’t hold a candle to some of the things that he was able to accomplish here. The blueprint is here. And he did a tremendous job building a legacy.”

Powell has high expectations for his new team

There are several reasons why Northwest was the perfect place for Powell to return to coaching.

“The job, in a way, sells itself based on three factors that come to mind,” Duea said. “I think the community, the girls and their potential, and the conference that we play in attracts high-level coaches. Coaches like Sam want the biggest challenges, and we have that night in and night out in the conference.”

The Waukee Northwest girls basketball roster is deep in talent, but very young, according to Powell.

He believes that over half of his varsity squad will be made up of freshmen. But every player came out ready to compete, even with Powell’s intense two-a-day practice schedule during the first week of workouts. The girls practice in the morning, attend school and then end the day with another practice.

“It’s tough, and we know it’s tough,” Powell said. “And the girls have been doing a heck of a job grinding it out, having positive attitudes, supporting each other. Because right now, we’re trying to continue to build on a culture that was here and enhance it to another level.”

That’s where the red Gatorade comes back into Powell’s story.

With two practices a day — and with the players buying into a bit of a rebuild — that electrolyte drink is a small token from the Wolves head coach to say that he appreciates the work that his players put in.

Powell wants his team to be competitive come Tuesday, Nov. 21, when Northwest travels to Des Moines Lincoln for the season opener. He considers the CIML to be the toughest conference in the state, and he wants Waukee Northwest to rise to the top of that group.

But above all else, Powell wants his players to enjoy the game.

A love and passion for basketball is what kept the 55-year-old coach close to the sport, and it’s what brought him back to the sideline.

“I’ve worked with kids all my life,” Powell said. “I just love kids. When this opportunity came about, I knew I wanted to be a part of this. I know I can help them grow, and I just want to help them pursue their dreams."

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Sam Powell takes over as Waukee Northwest girls basketball coach