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New coach Adams impressed by support for Boyle basketball

April 25, 2008|LARRY VAUGHT

Steve Adams came to Danville Friday hoping his interview at Boyle County would go well and that he might know something about the vacant boys basketball coaching position within a week.

Instead, about 30 minutes after his interviewed ended, Adams was offered the job and accepted.

"I was telling my wife, Denise, we will go see what happens and then hear something in a week or two. I didn't anticipate it happening that fast," Adams said.

However, Adams was impressed by what he heard when he met with Boyle's interview committee that consisted of high school principal Elmer Thomas, football coach Larry French, and parents Nan Givhan and Glynn Perry.

"I was especially impressed with the parents on the committee. If that is indicative of parents in the community, that's great. They were both very personable and nice. Sometimes these interviews are not always nice, but this one was," Adams said. "There were questions they had that I anticipated knowing what I did about Boyle and what led to this point."

Ronnie Bottoms resigned as Boyle's coach after the season. He led Boyle to the 2006 12th Region title but cited a lack of administrative support as a major reason for resigning.

Adams said the resignations of other Boyle coaches in the last two years were not discussed and that those did not concern him.

"I think the thing they cleared up for me is how much support there is at Boyle County for athletics in general. They would like to see every sport at the level football has enjoyed in the past. It just felt good and felt right to me," Adams, 47, said.

The 1979 Mercer County graduate coached 10 years at Tennessee Wesleyan College in Cleveland, Tenn., before going into private business in 2004. He missed coaching, though, and likes the expectations Boyle has for the program.

"They felt Boyle should be an elite team and one of the top two or three teams in the region every year," Adams said. "I don't know if that is realistic or not because I have not seen the kids, but I would like to think it is realistic. But you want to go into a situation where there are expectations of success rather than find apathy."

Adams says he knows Lincoln County should be "pretty dang good" each year but that Pulaski County and Somerset have not been as strong since Southwestern came into existence and that East Jessamine and West Jessamine split talent in that county.

"But there are still some awful good coaches in the region," he said.

Adams isn't sure what he'll do about a staff. He plans to ask Boyle assistant Greg Edwards, who was also a finalist for the job, to stay on staff.

"I would definitely want him if he's interested. He would bring a lot of positives," Adams, who plans to attend Boyle's two baseball games Saturday to meet future players, said. "But things happened so quickly today I don't even know where things stand with a staff."

He hopes to have a formal meeting with players and parents next week.

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