Billy Hicks would be my first choice. I also like Tim Riley, Wayne Breeden (a little surprised he hasn't been mentioned yet), and David Henley, and I've been very impressed with what Champ Ligon has done at Bryan Station the last couple of years.

16th Region:

Best Coach- Hampton (Lewis Co.)

Worst Coach- Mays (Elliott Co.)

 

Out of the 16th Region:

Best Coach- Humphrey (GRC)

Allen Feldhaus, Jr. from Madison Central.

This is a tough one.

 

Roscoe Denney would be a great choice, but he doesn't want to be a head coach anymore.

 

Dinky Phipps is another nice choice. He does more with less than anyone else in the state, but he is a Barbourville Tiger through and through.

 

Mike Jones is perhaps one of the best coaches in the state. People remember the Harlan teams he had in the mid-90s. I don't think a lot of people realize that not only were they talented, but they just didn't make a lot of mistakes. A great sign of strong leadership.

 

However, I am a little biased on my choice. I played for Billy Hicks. He is hands down the best coach I have ever known in terms of developing players. Also, a little known fact is that he uses no profanity and calls every player by their first name - not just "Jones get in there" or "Smith play some defense." May not sound like much, but as a teenager it was great to have someone in an authoritative position treat me and the rest of the team with dignity and respect.

 

I agree with your last couple sentences completely. Calling a player by their last name shows a lack of respect and lowers the confidence level of a player, which in turn reflects on the teams performance. Coaches are only hurting themselves and the team when doing so. :idunno:

I agree with your last couple sentences completely. Calling a player by their last name shows a lack of respect and lowers the confidence level of a player, which in turn reflects on the teams performance. Coaches are only hurting themselves and the team when doing so. :idunno:

 

I agree with the first name deal. Sometimes a coach can ruin a boy by constantly degrading him and cursing him.

I like Tim Riley at Warren Central and Brad Mefford at Woodford County.

Billy Hicks how can you argue with over 700 wins. This is my first choice.

 

Second would be Champ Ligon at Bryan Station he just get his kids to play hard.

Al Holland at Hazard. He just got his 400th win last week and has took MC Napier, Perry Central and Hazard to the state tournament 9 out of the last 16 years. There's not to many coaches that can say that. He gets a lot out of what talent he has year in and year out.

Nah.

 

I know I was just messin with ya!

16th Region:

Best Coach- Hampton (Lewis Co.)

Worst Coach- Mays (Elliott Co.)

 

Out of the 16th Region:

Best Coach- Humphrey (GRC)

 

I would agree with two out of three but worst coach has to be in Fleming County.

Mike Jones. I am so glad that he got him to start our program. This team has come leaps and bounds from the beginning of the year. Doesn't even look like the same team. Are they world beaters, no, will they win the region, maybe, maybe not, but they play as hard as any team I have seen in a long long time and they are learning the game.

Mike Jones. I am so glad that he got him to start our program. This team has come leaps and bounds from the beginning of the year. Doesn't even look like the same team. Are they world beaters, no, will they win the region, maybe, maybe not, but they play as hard as any team I have seen in a long long time and they are learning the game.

 

Who?

I agree with your last couple sentences completely. Calling a player by their last name shows a lack of respect and lowers the confidence level of a player, which in turn reflects on the teams performance. Coaches are only hurting themselves and the team when doing so. :idunno:

 

That all depends. On my son's freshman team we sometimes have two Taylors and a Tyler out there at the same time. Without last names it would be a disaster. :lol:

Who?

 

 

 

He topped the 500-win mark this year and has won four regional titles and two All "A" Classic state championships. He won 11 district titles and his teams were regional runner-up three times (once at Cawood, once at Harlan and once at Clay)

 

He started coaching in the 83-84 season at Cawood and coached all-stater and Kentucky All-Star Nick Sanford. He was an assistant at Cawood in 1981 when Mr. Basketball Phil Cox was a senior.

 

He coached 1995 Mr. Basketball Charles Thomas at Harlan and also coached all-stater and Kentucky All-Star Todd Cox (1995) and all-staters Michael Jones, Casey Lester and William Fields at Harlan.

 

He returned to his alma mater and led Clay to the state tournament in 2001.

Looks like all the good coaches are rooted in Harlan. When was the last state championship from that County?