Neil Ferris moves from boys basketball at Lutheran to girls hoops at Pana
With one hire, Pana filled its girls basketball coaching vacancy while Lutheran was left to find a new boys basketball coach.
Neil Ferris was hired as the new girls basketball coach at Pana after spending two years coaching the boys team at Lutheran.
“This program, historically, has been very, very successful,” Ferris said. “My dad played for (former Pana coach) Carey McVickers (at Divernon) ... and I still stay in contact with Carey and count him as a mentor.
“When I was in high school, they were very good and then they got third at state (in the 2022 Class 2A state tournament).
“It’s a program that’s had a lot of success, they have great facilities, they have a beautiful gym ... a new weight room and things like that.”
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In his two seasons at Lutheran, the Crusaders went 21-39 and 7-9 in the MSM Conference. Pana dismissed Jan Braden after two seasons. The Panthers went 24-10 with a regional championship in the 2022-23 season under Braden to 5-27 this season.
Ferris served as assistant to J.R. Boudouris for three seasons with the Rochester girls program before the 2016 Calvary assistant went back to his alma mater to serve as an assistant under Tives Gardner with the boys program.
Ferris said he’s excited to become part of a basketball-crazy town.
“That community loves basketball — boys and girls, they come out,” Ferris said. “I think there's a lot of talent in the gym. There's a lot of returning players coming back. And as a coach that's coached a young team, that's huge to have some experience come back, players that have played games
“I definitely think we're going to turn a corner here. I think we can get back to being successful and being a challenging team to play.”
In the style of Boudouris, McVickers and Gardner, Ferris wants his team to bring a strong, defensive pressure.
“I love to push the ball in transition,” Ferris said. “I love to turn the pressure up. I love to play fast. And I always have believed it starts on the defensive side of the ball, getting the stop, get a rebound, forcing a bad shot, and then we can get out and run.”
Ferris lives in Taylorville, about 15 minutes north of Pana on Illinois 29. He is the student minister at Taylorville Christian Church.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA girls basketball: Pana hires Calvary grad Neil Ferris as coach
