My top 7 varsity coaches are:

 

David Henley

Mike Listerman

Dave Faust

Mike Flynn

Jim Hicks

Tim Sullivan

Rick Shumate

 

I have a hard time putting Henley at the top of this list. I know they won state and only loss one game. But talent wins a lot of games, coaching wins a lot of close games. I don't know how many close game they had, not counting the state finals. With the talent or lack of talent he seems to have every year. I think Jim Hicks does about as good as of job as you can do. His teams always seem to have a plan to exacute against their opponet. Where as Holmes, Dixie and Cov Cath just seem to come and play. Holmes just seems to have the talent to win those games. I will say this about Henley, his teams will guard you, tip to buzzer. Maybe that is his game plan. Play as hard as you can on the defensive side and I will let you do freelance on the offensive side.

I have a hard time putting Henley at the top of this list. I know they won state and only loss one game. But talent wins a lot of games, coaching wins a lot of close games. I don't know how many close game they had, not counting the state finals. With the talent or lack of talent he seems to have every year. I think Jim Hicks does about as good as of job as you can do. His teams always seem to have a plan to exacute against their opponet. Where as Holmes, Dixie and Cov Cath just seem to come and play. Holmes just seems to have the talent to win those games. I will say this about Henley, his teams will guard you, tip to buzzer. Maybe that is his game plan. Play as hard as you can on the defensive side and I will let you do freelance on the offensive side.

 

The best way to tell how good a coach is, is to see how they learn from their mistakes. Coach Henley and his staff are great at making adjustments...here are a few examples just from this past year alone:

 

Game 1: Bryan Station 86 Holmes 72

Game 2: Holmes 74 Bryan Station 56

 

In the first game, Holmes pressed and got torched. Second game, Henley didn't have his team press and forced Bryan Station to be them with half court sets, and you see the result: 30 fewer points for BS.

 

Game 1- Boone Co 45 Holmes 38

Game 2- Holmes 32 Boone Co 29

 

Difference? Holmes made adjustments defensively and didn't allow Boone to kill them with the back door screens that beat them in the first game.

 

Also look at Henley's record in region championship games and the post season against teams who beat him during the regular season.

 

04/05

Conner 75 Holmes 72 (OT)

Holmes 53 Conner 39 (@ Conner region championship)

 

06/07:

St Henry 50 Holmes 41

Holmes 61 St. Henry 50 (Region Semi Finals)

 

Covcath 42 Holmes 41 ; Covcath 46 Holmes 42 ; Covcath 53 Holmes 50

Holmes 72 Covcath 60 (Region Championship)

 

08/09

Boone Co 45 Holmes 38

Holmes 32 Boone Co 29 (Region Championship)

 

Coach Hicks is a good coach and gets great results out of his players, but he isn't one of the better coaches at making adjustments against opponents. Example:

 

Game 1- Holmes 53 Conner 46

Game 2- Holmes 72 Conner 50

 

You obviously haven't seen Holmes very many times if you think Henley just lets them do whatever they want offensively. Why do you think their offensive production is down from years ago when they have more talented teams now? Because he stresses being patient offensively and working for good shots, while playing tough hard nosed defense. Coach Henley is easily one of the top 2 coaches in nky. Hard to argue against 70-5 over two years and 95-15 over 3 years...regardless of the talent level.

I have a hard time putting Henley at the top of this list. I know they won state and only loss one game. But talent wins a lot of games, coaching wins a lot of close games. I don't know how many close game they had, not counting the state finals. With the talent or lack of talent he seems to have every year. I think Jim Hicks does about as good as of job as you can do. His teams always seem to have a plan to exacute against their opponet. Where as Holmes, Dixie and Cov Cath just seem to come and play. Holmes just seems to have the talent to win those games. I will say this about Henley, his teams will guard you, tip to buzzer. Maybe that is his game plan. Play as hard as you can on the defensive side and I will let you do freelance on the offensive side.

 

I just put down the top 7 coaches who I felt were the best, but they are not in no particular order. :thumb:

The best way to tell how good a coach is, is to see how they learn from their mistakes. Coach Henley and his staff are great at making adjustments...here are a few examples just from this past year alone:

 

Game 1: Bryan Station 86 Holmes 72

Game 2: Holmes 74 Bryan Station 56

 

In the first game, Holmes pressed and got torched. Second game, Henley didn't have his team press and forced Bryan Station to be them with half court sets, and you see the result: 30 fewer points for BS.

 

Game 1- Boone Co 45 Holmes 38

Game 2- Holmes 32 Boone Co 29

 

Difference? Holmes made adjustments defensively and didn't allow Boone to kill them with the back door screens that beat them in the first game.

 

Also look at Henley's record in region championship games and the post season against teams who beat him during the regular season.

 

04/05

Conner 75 Holmes 72 (OT)

Holmes 53 Conner 39 (@ Conner region championship)

 

06/07:

St Henry 50 Holmes 41

Holmes 61 St. Henry 50 (Region Semi Finals)

 

Covcath 42 Holmes 41 ; Covcath 46 Holmes 42 ; Covcath 53 Holmes 50

Holmes 72 Covcath 60 (Region Championship)

 

08/09

Boone Co 45 Holmes 38

Holmes 32 Boone Co 29 (Region Championship)

 

Coach Hicks is a good coach and gets great results out of his players, but he isn't one of the better coaches at making adjustments against opponents. Example:

 

Game 1- Holmes 53 Conner 46

Game 2- Holmes 72 Conner 50

 

You obviously haven't seen Holmes very many times if you think Henley just lets them do whatever they want offensively. Why do you think their offensive production is down from years ago when they have more talented teams now? Because he stresses being patient offensively and working for good shots, while playing tough hard nosed defense. Coach Henley is easily one of the top 2 coaches in nky. Hard to argue against 70-5 over two years and 95-15 over 3 years...regardless of the talent level.

 

What is his overall record at Holmes and overall as a head coach? This tells me more about how a coach does when talent levels aren't quite as high.

The sophomore class is pretty talented, so I would imagine that 5 or 6 including Down's and McQueary's sons.

 

Back to the original post:

 

Varsity:

Faust

Hicks

 

They seem to get the most out of their kids.

 

Listerman

Henley

 

Have had great success

 

Flynn

 

Expect him to be successful with this senior class.

 

The two up-and-comers:

 

Grant Brannen and Tim Sullivan

 

Freshman:

 

Ashley at Boone has won two championships in a row.

Sorrell - CCH

Goetz - St. Henry

Rowland - Conner

 

Ashley will be tested this year. The last two years he had a ton of talent and this incoming freshman group has a couple really good players, but it drops after that. They also do not have much size at all this year, which he has had the last two years. We will be able to really see his coaching talent this year if he is able to pull another championship with the group he has coming in.

The 9th Region is extremely well served by coaches such as Listerman, Henley, Faust, Brannon, Schumate, etc. who are expert at communicating the x's and o's of the game and are men of integrity. The 9th Region coaching fraternity is A+++. At the top of the list I would go with Listerman and Henley 1 and 1(a). Faust, Brannon, Schumate and Hicks close behind. At the Cov. Cath. vs. Beechwood 08-09 regular season game, I thought the paramedics were going to have to drag Coach Schumate out of the gym. He looked like he had malaria. But...he held on to the end. I was always very impressed by Coach Schlarman at Highlands. I loved how his teams played. I will miss watching him practice his craft on the sidelines.

Part of being a coach is how you handle your team as well. The boys at Holmes deal with more off of the floor than most kids in NKY. Henley and his staff have done a fantastic job of keeping those boys focused, which can be difficult to do. Being a great coach sometimes goes beyond x's and o's in my opinion. Especially at this level.

 

I left Grant Brannen off of my intial list and I agree, he really should be included with the up and comers. His teams have been very well coached, he has gotten every ounce of talent out of the kids on his team.

A coach's communication skills, overall demeanor, how he handles/interacts with his players on and off the court, and deals with parents are also important.

A coach's communication skills, overall demeanor, how he handles/interacts with his players on and off the court, and deals with parents are also important.

 

I completely agree with you. I would say the way that you evaluated a high school coach would be completely different than a college or pro coach.

Let's see...Boone's freshman team just won the championship....I think two years might be a little premature. But you know what. No coach wins without talent. That's why Holmes and Cov Cath and New Cath are always going to be the top jobs in the area and whoever is coaching there is always going to be considered a top coach. Because those programs are always going to have enough talent to win. So what comes first, the chicken or the egg? I say you don't get a job there without being a good coach. And the same is true for Boone County. McQueary can coach and deserves to be considered one of the best in the 9th region.

 

Didn't they also have the big Doss boy who is no longer playing for Boone? Other than McQueary, there isn't much other size in the 2012 class at Boone.

Yes, but how many of those sophomores will actually make the varsity team this year since Boone has so many seniors? I agree that no coach wins without at least some talent. Boone had a school record 26 victories this past season, so I think it is safe to say that it will drop off before too long.

 

Boone will struggle in a few years if they keep that many seniors. He will have to cut some sophomores that could develop into great players. Also, some of the talented juniors (who helped to win a championship freshman year and JV last year) will have to play strictly JV if he keeps that many. Will these talented JR's wait their turn when they would probably be playing varsity at most other schools?

What is his overall record at Holmes and overall as a head coach? This tells me more about how a coach does when talent levels aren't quite as high.

 

Henley's record at Holmes is 256-107:

 

97-98: 14-12 (9th Region Semi Finalist)

98-99: 22-5

99-00: 21-9 (9th Region Runner Up)

00-01: 10-17

01-02: 17-12

02-03: 17-13 (9th Region Semi Finalist)

03-04: 17-8

04-05: 24-7 (9th Region Champs)

05-06: 19-9

06-07: 25-10 (State Semi-Finalist)

07-08: 34-3 (State Runner Up)

08-09: 36-2 (State Champs)

 

98/99 and 03/04 are the only two times Holmes has failed to make it to the region tournament under Henley.

Part of being a coach is how you handle your team as well. The boys at Holmes deal with more off of the floor than most kids in NKY. Henley and his staff have done a fantastic job of keeping those boys focused, which can be difficult to do. Being a great coach sometimes goes beyond x's and o's in my opinion. Especially at this level.

I left Grant Brannen off of my intial list and I agree, he really should be included with the up and comers. His teams have been very well coached, he has gotten every ounce of talent out of the kids on his team.

 

I completely agree. Coaching should go beyond the x's and o's at this level. There are some kids with tons of potential that need just a little more help than other kids to get where they need to be. A great coach to me knows their kids and the families and knows how to help each kid be the best that they can be, both on and off the court. They build a relationship with their players and become a great role model for them and help them understand when they make a bad decision instead of giving them the boot, which I unfortunately have seen.

 

I have coached summer ball in NKy for several years and have had kids from several coaches in NKY play for me. I have been very impressed with the boys I've coached from Holmes. They speak so highly of coach Henley and are extremely focused, driven, and polite. You can tell how much respect they have for their coach and for the game for that matter, which says a lot. I can't say that other players have talked about their high school coach like that.

Henley's record at Holmes is 256-107:

 

97-98: 14-12 (9th Region Semi Finalist)

98-99: 22-5

99-00: 21-9 (9th Region Runner Up)

00-01: 10-17

01-02: 17-12

02-03: 17-13 (9th Region Semi Finalist)

03-04: 17-8

04-05: 24-7 (9th Region Champs)

05-06: 19-9

06-07: 25-10 (State Semi-Finalist)

07-08: 34-3 (State Runner Up)

08-09: 36-2 (State Champs)

 

98/99 and 03/04 are the only two times Holmes has failed to make it to the region tournament under Henley.

 

Good record. Only 1 losing season in 12.

Boone will struggle in a few years if they keep that many seniors. He will have to cut some sophomores that could develop into great players. Also, some of the talented juniors (who helped to win a championship freshman year and JV last year) will have to play strictly JV if he keeps that many. Will these talented JR's wait their turn when they would probably be playing varsity at most other schools?

 

Looking back, Boone probably should not have kept more than 7 in the 2010 class when the boys were sophomores. They are lacking size overall, and they have 5 or 6 guards in the same class who are all about the same size. If they keep 5 sophs, all 6 returning juniors, and the 9 returning seniors, that's 20 right there, and that doesn't include any new transfers or players who might try out in October and be good enough to make the team. Tough decisions. Probably would have been easier a couple of years ago.