Minnesota’s New Head Coaches: Class AAAA
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There are eight Class AAAA schools with new head coaches. Who are these coaches and what are they inheriting program wise? We break that down now! Jon Bryant at Edina Bio: Bryant was a standout at Robbinsdale Armstrong, at St.…
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Continue ReadingThere are eight Class AAAA schools with new head coaches. Who are these coaches and what are they inheriting program wise? We break that down now!
Jon Bryant at Edina
Bio: Bryant was a standout at Robbinsdale Armstrong, at St. Cloud State, and at Wisconsin before moving back to the Twin Cities and become a quality trainer (among other things). He did a nice job at Armstrong before being replaced so it’s good to see Bryant get a job again.
Position of Program: Solid. Let’s get the obvious out of the way, the Hornets would be in a great spot of Kole Hanson hadn’t left for Holy Family but Bryant still has a good amount of young talent to work with. Peyton Himley Peyton Himley 6'0" | PG Edina | 2023 MN and Vinnie Ingram will be the senior leaders while sophomore Daniel Molhoek is likely to be the key player the next few years. There is also a strong junior class.
David Collier at Apple Valley
Bio: Collier is a Dave Thorson disciple and the Eagles will compete. Collier lives in Apple Valley and many years back was a young coach at the younger levels. But he’s been at D for 15-16 years and is now taking over down the road from his home.
Position of Program: Rebuild. This is a rebuild. Kids in the area have been flocking to Eastview and the program has to establish a new era of basketball in the community as the championship days are long gone. There is some young talent to work with at Apple Valley and if they compete hard they could get 10 wins.
Nick Hayes at Chaska
Bio: Nick is a 25 year old coach who played at Champlin Park graduating in 2015. He’s been with Chaska the last two seasons as an assistant and was a middle school coach before that in various areas.
Position of Program: Rebuild. The Hawks have had a long run of stars that made Chaska one of the better teams in Class AAAA but that run is done. Senior guards Maddox Foss and Dawson Reif had good junior years and will lead the way keeping the team likely somewhat competitive.
Erik Leafblad at Burnsville
Bio: Leafblad has been at Burnsville for some time and it’s now his turn to try and bring a struggling program back up from some struggles.
Position of Program: Rebuild. The good thing is that Leafblad has a standout in Khalif Bettis Khalif Bettis 6'6" | SF Burnsville | 2023 State MN to work behind so the team can win some if the support and returning talent around Khalif can form a chemistry. The South Suburban is a tough league but there are wins there that can be had if the form is right.
Oliver Major of Spring Lake Park
Bio: Major has been at Spring Lake Park as a teacher and coach for 22 years! He has been working with Grant Guzy for a long period of time so you know the daily structure won’t change like it would if they hired from outside the program. Major was next in line and it was well earned.
Position of Program: Solid. The Panthers have a great foundation and continue to have good players coming up through the program. The junior group led by Andrew King Andrew King 6'4" | SF Spring Lake Park | 2024 State MN and Myles Thomsen Myles Thomsen 6'2" | SG Spring Lake Park | 2024 State MN will be really good and Beau Johnson Beau Johnson 6'6" | C Spring Lake Park | 2023 MN is a 6’6 big that had a really nice junior season.
Jeff Oseth of STMA
Bio: The former head coach at Minnesota Crookston has been at STMA the last few years as an assistant and is now stepping in as the head coach. Oseth has the experience this program needs.
Position of Program: Solid. Based on the recent records you want to say rebuild but I feel like STMA has the population, the facilities, the support, etc to be a good program. They also have a really nice group of young players coming up that could make fora really good team.
Myles Shepherd of Minneapolis Washburn
Bio: It wasn’t that long ago I was tweeting about Myles playing and now he is the new head coach at Washburn. Myles coaches the Washburn girls last year and will coach the boys this year. He has also been coaching middle school talent in the Team Tyus program.
Position of Program: Good. Thinking about this only from a league perspective, Shepherd walks into a good spot. North graduated much of their quality and has a new coach, South saw most of their line-up transfer, and a few programs are in a deep rebuild. The door is open for Washburn to battle with Edison, Southwest, and what returns at North as they have the league’s top player in Kyle Jorgensen Kyle Jorgensen 6'9" | C Minneapolis Washburn | 2024 State #308 Nation MN plus a couple other key pieces back.
Josh Turnquist of Rogers
Bio: Josh is another player that ten years ago I was reporting about and now he’s in his late 20s and is a head basketball coach. Turnquist has been an assistant at Rogers and now moves into the big job.
Position of Program: Rebuild. This is certainly a rebuild as Rogers has had some rough years recently and that was with some good players in the program! They just haven’t had the depth and now they will be entering a new era without a star and facing a tough battle.