Several area high schools hire coaches
Several Midlands schools that filled coaching vacancies saw the moves become official Tuesday.
Lower Richland made two basketball coaching hires, as former Dreher standout and current White Knoll coach Keturah Jackson was named the Diamond Hornets’ girls coach while Dorman assistant Caleb Gaither is the boys coach.
“We are excited they are strong coaches and leadership we are looking for,” Lower Richland athletics director Debbie Stroman said. “They are ready to hit the ground running. They are going to develop the teams we are used to at Lower Richland and the rapport with the players.”
Other moves approved on Tuesday were Keenan promoting Sean Gilley to football coach and C.A. Johnson naming former Blythewood athletics director Vince Lowry its boys basketball coach.
Dreher also filled its boys basketball coaching position recently by promoting Steven Moore.
Spring Valley is set to hire Megan Assey as its new girls basketball coach. The move will be approved at Thursday’s Richland Two School Board meeting.
Jackson replaces Stroman, who won 482 games and seven state titles at Lower Richland before retiring to be the school’s athletics director. She was a standout at Dreher and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2004 before going on to play at Duke, where she ranks 10th on the school’s all-time steals list.
Jackson has been the coach at White Knoll the past three seasons and led the Timberwolves to their first playoff appearance in 2014-15.
“She is a home-grown kid and that brings a lot to the table,” Stroman said. “I remember her impact she had on her team as a player and saw her coach at a tournament at the beach this year. And her team never gave up and always played hard.”
Lower Richland will be Gaither’s first head coaching job. Gaither was an assistant at Dorman the past four years and also was at South Pointe and Lander University. The 30-year-old replaces Mark Burnitz, who was let go after two seasons.
The Diamond Hornets return a strong nucleus, led by Ja’Cor Nelson and Clyde Trapp.
“I have been watching film on the team and they are basketball savvy,” Gaither said. “I’m so ecstatic, you can’t ask for better dream job. I’m extremely excited and getting ready to work.”
The school will hold a meet and greet for the new basketball coaches Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Assey replaces hall of fame coach Anne Long, who stepped down in 41 years of coaching with the last eight coming at Spring Valley. Long won 851 games and eight state titles, with four coming at Spring Valley. The Vikings have won the past two Class 4A championships.
Assey was the first girls basketball coach at River Bluff. The Gators made the postseason in 2014-15 with a 14-8 mark. Before coming to River Bluff, Assey was coach at Brookland-Cayce in 2012-13 and an assistant at Charleston Southern.
Former White Knoll boys basketball coach Brent Jones will succeed Assey at River Bluff. Jones coached the Timberwolves from 2000-14 and was an assistant at Lexington before that.
Lowry is getting back into coaching after being Blythewood’s AD since 2005. He was the Region 4-4A athletic director of the year for 2015-16.
Lowry replaces Daryl Jarvis, who led the Trojans to Class A lower state appearance this season.
This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Several area high schools hire coaches."