Washington High School hires Connor Scott as new varsity basketball coach

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Washington High School has hired a new head coach for the Blue Lion boys basketball program.

Connor Scott, 25, hails from South Webster, Ohio.

He is a graduate of South Webster High School and Cedarville University, where he played soccer and basketball.

“Connor Scott is a very promising and up and coming basketball coach in southeast Ohio and has been hired as the new boys varsity head basketball coach,” Washington Court House City Schools Superintendent Tom Bailey said. “Connor is a two-sport college athlete and has most recently been an assistant coach at both South Webster HS (2017-18) and Chillicothe HS (the two seasons before that).”

Scott has been a teacher at Chillicothe High School the past three years.

“Mr. Scott’s approach to coaching is the epitome of what we want to build in Washington Court House,” Bailey said. “First and foremost, he teaches skills necessary for our young men to grow with integrity and character. He stresses that players must firstly subscribe to the family of basketball players before there can be an expectation of winning.

“I am confident that the boys program will flourish under the leadership of Connor as we move into a new chapter of Blue Lion boys basketball,” Bailey said.

The school board unanimously approved Scott, as well as new girls’ soccer coach Chris Chambers, at its meeting on May 21.

Scott currently resides in Chillicothe, but plans on moving to Washington Court House.

“As I picked my first job, I did pick very carefully,” Scott said. “Washington Court House has an incredible history with Coach (Gary) Shaffer and, of course, Coach (Shannon) Bartruff. I coached against (Bartruff) and had to scout his teams and they were always very, very well-coached.

“So, it’s not like I’m coming into a job where I’m having to really overhaul the entire learning process of Court House basketball,” Scott said. “(Bartruff) did a good job. He’s also given me a lot of resources to help me. I think Coach Bartruff really wants the program to succeed, whether that’s with him, or not. So, that was huge.

“I love the administration,” Scott said. “After my interview with the athletic director, Mr. (Mark) Bihl and the principal, Mr. (Tracy) Rose, I could just tell from my first interaction with them that they were people who were going to support me and were people I wanted to work with.

“I’ve had two open gyms so far,” Scott said. “The kids are diving on the floor after loose balls; they are playing their tails off. I think building a winning culture is something that is going to have to happen first. You don’t just change from 3-18 to a winning season by changing the coach. I’m going have to build a culture first and that’s something that I think I have the players to do and it’s something I’m excited about.

“I can already tell that Evan Upthegrove is a heck of a leader,” Scott said. “Dillon Steward is an incredible athlete and he’s hopefully going to have a heck of a football season. Ross Matthews is going to be a good shooter for me. Garritt Leisure plays really, really hard, as does Miquel O’Flaherty. I don’t think talent is going to be much of an issue. If I can just create a winning culture with them, we’ll be successful. Trevor Rarick has also really impressed me these first couple of days.”

As for a coaching staff, Scott said that he has the junior high staff set, and he has a j-v coach, but it will be a while longer before all the coaches for the high school teams are in place. Scott also said that he wants to have enough kids come out for basketball so that the Blue Lions can have a freshman team, as well.

Chris Hoppes is the Sports Editor for the Record-Herald in Washington Court House.

Connor Scott
http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2018/05/web1_Connor-Scott-new-Blue-Lion-boys-basketball-coach.jpgConnor Scott

By Chris Hoppes

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