Here are our Coach of the Year candidates, except for one

<p>Before we introduce you to our Coach of the Year, I thought I should mention that we had plenty of candidates for the job. Here are some of the other applicants by age.</p> <p><strong>2018</strong></p> <p><strong>Jim DeSart,</strong> <strong>Stars 11th DeSart</strong>, #5 in our final ranking. We had Stars DeSart at #9 in our pre-season ranking but they were better than that from the get-go, taking 6th place at the AAU and going an estimated 17-8 after that. Bren Fox did what Bren Fox does on the defensive end. What we hadn’t foreseen was that Noelle Josephson would have as good a summer as anybody on a 2018 wing. But a lot of credit also goes to coach DeSart, who got his team to play under control and not to try to do too much. What they did do, as it turned out, was enough to hang up the sneakers feelin’ pretty good about their summer.</p> <p><strong>John Herbrechtsmeyer, North Tartan 11th Elite</strong>. #8 in the pre-season, #7 now, so nuthin’ special. Except that Herbie remains one of the best coaches in the business, especially one of the very best defensive coaches. Here he is with Tartan’s 2nd string. I mean, they were often very seriously out-manned, but never out-hustled, never out-smarted. </p> <p><strong>2019</strong></p> <p><strong>Melissa Guebert, North Tartan 10th EYBL.</strong> From April to August, the most improved team over a year ago with a big roster upgrade and another of just flat-out the best coaches in the business on the sideline. Her girls play with energy and passion, they believe in what they’re doing, they have fun, they get better. What more do you want?</p> <p><strong>Dan Wolfe, Rise 10th Purple.</strong> OK, so, was it Dan Wolfe or was it Joey Batt who helped this team to improve from 10th in the AAU to 15-5 in the 2nd half. How about both? Batt was pretty spectacular, but Wolfe, a Gustavus assistant, is as good a coach as you’ll find on the AAU circuit. If I had a daughter and lived in a certain area of the state, this is the guy I’d be wanting.</p> <p><strong>Whitney Smetana, Heat 10th Smetana.</strong> Stumbled out of the gate, dropping to 5th place in D2 at the AAU. But, then, we didn’t have them anywhere in our pre-season top 15. But they roared through June and July at 18-3 with 3 division titles. Great turnaround.</p> <p><strong>2020</strong></p> <p><strong>Tara Starks, North Tartan 9th. </strong>Tara Starks is the best coach you’ve never heard of (if, in fact, you’ve never heard of her). But, mostly she coaches younger kids at Tartan and Hopkins and leaves the glory to others. She has seen it all before, and when kids of a certain age are ready (or, should be ready) to start making good decisions and getting into the mental aspects of the game, she’s as good a teacher as all the folks that you have heard of.</p> <p><strong>Mike Swann and Evan Davis, E1T1 Premier</strong></p> <p><strong>and Bill Hinck, Heat 9th Hinck. </strong>Not one but two “indies” managed to snag AAU seeds in the 2020 division this year. They’re kind of the “garage rock” bands among the million-sellers, but they’ve both just flat-out put together groups of kids that can play, and can push the big guys down to the wire. They’re kids who play the game the right way, which must say something about their coaches, right?</p> <p><strong>2021</strong></p> <p><strong>Paul Hill, Tayler Hill Elite.</strong> The Hill brand seems to be having a resurgence. The NC Heat have been retired and now its Tayler and Hill in the forefront. So far, they’ve got 2 great teams, though the 11ths were slowed by Masengo Mutanda’s injury. The 8ths were slowed by almost nothing, well, except themselves. Hey, they’re 8ths and consistency is not yet mastered. But, when this group is playing well, they are a machine, a buzz-saw, and a thing of beauty all rolled into one. Jade Hill at the controls, Adalia Mackenzie and Andrea Tribble running the floor, Kierra Wheeler and Dora Okpara pounding he boards. Ouch. So, like some of our other coaches of younger teams, this “honorable mention” is more for roster formation than anything else. But, this is a team with a super-bright future.</p> <p><strong>Dan Egan, Top Flight 2021 Metro. </strong>This team came out of nowhere more than anybody. They ran out of gas a little bit, maybe, but through the AAU tournament, they were right up there with the top 5 in the class by virtue of playing hard and playing very much as a unit. Again, I figure the coach has something to do with that.</p> <p>Okay, that’s 10. I gotta stop. But, I could just as well mention another 10. But I don’t want to sound like the guy who says at the start of the season that we should send a trophy out to everybody. Then, at the end of the season, everybody who thinks they don’t deserve one can send it back.</p> <p> </p>