J Jonah

I too am very close to the basketball program under Coach Coburn’s run, am a parent of a former player, and been around and talked to many former players. Every one that I have known has had a very positive experience with the basketball program (my daughter included). In my experience Coach Coburn has always put the overall best interests of the players first and success on the court second. In my opinion Coach Coburn is a very good coach and will be hard to replace at St. Henry. The systems Coach Coburn ran were specifically designed to help a small school compete with large schools. These strategies helped to even the playing field and helped St. Henry remain competitive. I’ll never forget the 2012 regional semifinal. Boone Co. had I believe 2 future D1 players & 2 future D2 players – including Ms. Basketball, yet St. Henry competed throughout the game and trailed by only 2 points with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Looking at the KHSAA website they have beaten many good teams as well such as Ryle, Assumption, Conner, NCC, and Highlands among others. They didn’t win them all, but won many. They were very competitive and that is something that historically isn’t associated with St. Henry girls basketball. The truth is coaching is a very tough, and sometimes cruel profession. A coach’s game plan, personnel, and strategic decisions can always be debated. Concrete facts such as wins / losses, tournament results, coach of the year awards (Coach Coburn has 2 of these by the way) can and are often conveniently explained away as team talent and weak opponents on the schedule. Some lament that their daughter did not have a positive experience . . . well not sure what you and your daughter were expecting from the high school basketball experience, but nothing is perfect. To have a committed coach who cares about the team and does their best to put a competitive team on the court is all that can be asked of a high school coach. If you want a hallmark moment, you probably need to head to the local YMCA and sign up for rec basketball (they all get equal playtime and receive snacks after the game). It took a coach that had the time, energy, and knowledge coupled with the ability to thrive in a less than ideal environment to be successful at St. Henry. Coach Coburn possessed these qualities and it is very unlikely that combination will grace the St. Henry girls basketball program any time soon.