Steve Smith back to coach Whiteoak Lady Wildcats
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
A love of basketball and a phone call saw a familiar face return to lead the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats basketball program back from the bottom of the conference standings to work to rebuild to what it once was.
Steve Smith will return to coach the Lady ’Cats basketball program for the 2017-18 season, as he last was the head coach in 2009-10 when he was let go by the school from a previous administration. Smith is replacing Randy Abbott, who was the WHS head coach the past two seasons.
Smith said he’s applied to be the WHS varsity girls basketball coach since his previous turn as the head coach, where his teams won conference championships, sectional championships and district championships. This time, it was Whiteoak who called him to gauge his interest in helping bring back to once championship program.
[[In-content Ad]]
During Smith’s first stint as the varsity head coach, the Lady ’Cats won 10 straight sectional championships (WHS won 12 in a row in all, with two coming before Smith), along with two district championships during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons where they played in the regional round of the postseason.
Since Smith was last head coach, the Lady ’Cats program has seen three head coaches, and the program has not had a winning season as numbers for the girls basketball program have dropped throughout the years. In the seven seasons since Smith last coached at Whiteoak, the Lady ’Cats program has 21 total wins. This past year, the Lady ’Cats finished at 3-20 overall.
“The first time as head coach, I had a lot of talented and good ball players who worked hard, had dedication and won games,” Smith told The Highland County Press. “We want to instill that back into the program again and have that same attitude back at Whiteoak.
“Since I was let go the first time after the 2009-10 season, the administration and school board has changed and this year I didn’t apply. This year, they called me and asked if I was interested. I’m coming back because I just love the game of basketball, and I like working with the kids.”
Smith has stayed in the shadows of coaching since he was last a varsity head coach. He’s helped out with his granddaughter’s pee-wee teams, but other than that, Smith has just watched games from the stands and is familiar with the Whiteoak program.
“This time will be a little different because the numbers are down compared to what they used to be, and I don’t know a lot yet about the talent level, but we want to get more girls back interested in the program,” he said. “I know they graduated five seniors from this year’s team, so there will be a lot to replace, but it will be a challenge for the first year or two to get the program back on track.
“I’ve talked to John Combs (athletic director) and Ted Downing (Bright Local Superintendent), and we are going to have an assembly for the girls in the school to see where the interest is in the program and get more girls involved in basketball again. I’m still working on getting a coaching staff in place at all levels of the program too.
“We’ve had a fairly dominant team in the past, and I want the students and community to know with enough hard work and dedication, we want to work to get back to that.”
Steve Smith will return to coach the Lady ’Cats basketball program for the 2017-18 season, as he last was the head coach in 2009-10 when he was let go by the school from a previous administration. Smith is replacing Randy Abbott, who was the WHS head coach the past two seasons.
Smith said he’s applied to be the WHS varsity girls basketball coach since his previous turn as the head coach, where his teams won conference championships, sectional championships and district championships. This time, it was Whiteoak who called him to gauge his interest in helping bring back to once championship program.
[[In-content Ad]]
During Smith’s first stint as the varsity head coach, the Lady ’Cats won 10 straight sectional championships (WHS won 12 in a row in all, with two coming before Smith), along with two district championships during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons where they played in the regional round of the postseason.
Since Smith was last head coach, the Lady ’Cats program has seen three head coaches, and the program has not had a winning season as numbers for the girls basketball program have dropped throughout the years. In the seven seasons since Smith last coached at Whiteoak, the Lady ’Cats program has 21 total wins. This past year, the Lady ’Cats finished at 3-20 overall.
“The first time as head coach, I had a lot of talented and good ball players who worked hard, had dedication and won games,” Smith told The Highland County Press. “We want to instill that back into the program again and have that same attitude back at Whiteoak.
“Since I was let go the first time after the 2009-10 season, the administration and school board has changed and this year I didn’t apply. This year, they called me and asked if I was interested. I’m coming back because I just love the game of basketball, and I like working with the kids.”
Smith has stayed in the shadows of coaching since he was last a varsity head coach. He’s helped out with his granddaughter’s pee-wee teams, but other than that, Smith has just watched games from the stands and is familiar with the Whiteoak program.
“This time will be a little different because the numbers are down compared to what they used to be, and I don’t know a lot yet about the talent level, but we want to get more girls back interested in the program,” he said. “I know they graduated five seniors from this year’s team, so there will be a lot to replace, but it will be a challenge for the first year or two to get the program back on track.
“I’ve talked to John Combs (athletic director) and Ted Downing (Bright Local Superintendent), and we are going to have an assembly for the girls in the school to see where the interest is in the program and get more girls involved in basketball again. I’m still working on getting a coaching staff in place at all levels of the program too.
“We’ve had a fairly dominant team in the past, and I want the students and community to know with enough hard work and dedication, we want to work to get back to that.”