[J. R. VanHoose]

As everyone should now know, I have now been hired as the Head Girls Basketball Coach at Phelps High School. I have been reading the “rumor” thread since May, and as most of you should know by now, I am a regular on this site. Not so much to give my opinions, but just to see what is going on. In this post, however, I would like to take this opportunity to give some of my opinions and respond to some posts that are contained in this thread.

When the “rumors” of my going to Phelps made the papers back in May, I didn’t have a clue to why those had been printed. I had just been asked if I may have some interest in the job, no one offered it to me, or did I interview for it, they just sent out some “feelers” to see if I would be interested if the job came open. How coaching the boys team came up is beyond me? At no time during all of this, was the notion of coaching the boys team at Phelps ever mentioned. This aside, let me tell you why I took this job, so maybe some of you will stop speculating on this decision.

First, my wife played, Shawna, played basketball at Phelps and helped lead the girls team to a 15th Region All “A” Title in 1999. Most of her family and friends still live in the area, we go down that way quite often, and we both feel comfortable in that surrounding. I know a great many people there and feel quite comfortable in those surroundings. I will not be moving into a situation where I don’t know anyone in the community and it will ease the process of the move. An added bonus to this is Hornet’s Restaurant. It does have great food and I wouldn’t mind eating there everyday!!!

Second, Phelps, in my opinion, has a great tradition in both boy’s and girl’s basketball. The boys won the 15th Region Tournament in 1988, while the girls won the 15th Region Tournament in 1988 and 1989, were the 15th Region Runners-Up in 1990, and have a 15th Region All “A” Title from 1999. I feel that I can help bring success back to the girls program and build a foundation that will help keep in there for a long time. This is a job that I hope that I can retire from, by that I mean I am in this for the long haul, I would be perfectly happy if I could retire as the girls head coach at Phelps in 25-30 years. I do not believe in going to a job, staying a few years, and then leaving, I want to give back to the community that gave me a great wife. I have many different ideas that I would like to implement that I believe could help both high school basketball programs. I want to help start a junior pro league in Phelps for the boys and girls, teach them the fundamentals of the game at a younger age, and give them the skills that they will need to be successful when they get onto particular teams in high school. I am not sure if there are any basketball camps in the area in the summer, but I would also like to start my own personal camp that would take place in the summer for both girls and boys. I would stress fundamentals, give the kids another opportunity to learn and work with basketball, and give them what they need to be successful in life and basketball.

Third, it is just time for me to leave Paintsville. I have lived here all of my life, except for the time I was in college at Marshall, and I think it is time to move away and quit being known as the Mr. Basketball from Paintsville, who also happens to teach and coach there. I need to get out of that shadow, get on my own, and see what I can do away from the “safety” of Paintsville. Don’t get me wrong, I do not regret any of my time here, I love Paintsville, will always be proud to be from there, and always be prod to be a “Tiger.” I just have to see what I can do away from here.

Fourth, as for why I am coaching girls, it was an opportunity that presented itself and I jumped at the chance. I think it will be very exciting to coach the girls at Phelps and I see a lot of potential in those girls and I think that I can help them achieve their many goals. Will it be different than what I have done in the past, no it won’t. This reminds me of a quote from the late, great coach, Red Auerbach, “This is a simple game. The ball is round and the floor is smooth.” Different, no, this will not be any different. All kids, whatever level, must try and master the fundamentals that require their success at this game. My job will be to help them master those fundamentals and see that I can do everything in my power to help them achieve their maximum potential. On a side note, I am pleased to coach the girls because I would feel awkward coaching against someone that I consider one of the greatest high school coaches that has ever been in the state of Kentucky – Bill Mike Runyon. I have thought about how weird it would be to look down the opposing bench and see him down there coaching. I mean, I am coaching against the man I played for and who helped teach me a great deal about the game of basketball, and I am trying to beat him. How crazy would that be? I also, would not like to coach against any of the boys who I have been around for the last four years. For those of you that know me well, you know I have a brother who will be in middle school next year at Paintsville. How could I coach against him and his friends, who I have been around for years, when they get older? So you can see why this is the perfect situation for me!

What really gets me about situations like this are that I know some of you, and the ones I know are very supportive on here and in person. It is the ones who I don’t know that concern me. These people may be kind to your face, but on here they can hide behind a screen name and say whatever they want to about you, with nothing to loose. That is the first amendment at work, I understand that, but I hate nothing worse than people who are two-faced. That is why I joined this site under my real name; I wanted people to know what I thought and what I was about. But this situation reminds me of a quote from Coach Adolph Rupp, “To sit by and worry about criticism, which too often comes from the misinformed or from those incapable of passing judgment on an individual or a problem, is a waste of time.”

Having said that, I refuse to waste my time on any detractors that I may encounter, but I think that there are some items that have been discussed that need to be set straight:

Warlock – Yes, I asked Coach Runyon if I could be the JV coach last season, I wanted to get more coaching experience than what I was getting as just being a varsity assistant. Is there something wrong with wanting more experience? You should know, at least I hope, that getting actual head coaching experience, whether it is JV or junior high, is more beneficial than just being a varsity assistant coach. You have to learn how to make decisions in the course of the game as a head coach and not rely on others to do that for you. I think last year as JV coach helped me as far as game situations and dealing with everything else that comes with being a head coach. As for missing the JV game to watch a movie, I will clear up this for you as well. You know I attended Marshall University right? Well I had bought 2 tickets to the world premier of “We Are Marshall…” in Huntington that fall for $500 a piece as a Christmas present to my wife. The premier was scheduled for December 12, and until our basketball schedule came out, I was unaware that we would be playing Pikeville that night. I discussed the situation with Coach Runyon and he had no problem with me going to the premier and letting another assistant coach the JV team that night. I am sorry if you don’t accept the situation, but I don’t really care what you or anyone else thinks about it. I got to see the world premier of “We Are Marshall…” in Huntington (I mean how may movie world premiers come to this area). I got to meet Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Coach Red Dawson, and others. What made it even better was that my wife got to see Matthew McConaughey (who she absolutely adores) and got her picture with Matthew Fox. So. I am sorry if you don’t think I am ready to coach because I was trying to be a good husband and get my wife a great Christmas present and missed a JV game. Everyone involved with the decisions understood the circumstances and were fine with me missing the game.

Ukbadmamajamma – I am pretty sure that I am not getting this job, just because I was Mr. Basketball, coming up on some ten years ago. Hopefully, they are hiring me because they see great potential in my coaching abilities. This is one of the reasons I am leaving Paintsville, I am tried of being just known as 1998 Kentucky Mr. Basketball, I want to be known as something else, hopefully I will be remembered as a good and fair coach. I hope that you can understand that!

If anyone, has any other question, please ask them, I will answer it as best as I can.