When the Seymour boys basketball coaching job opened up, Kirk Manns said the decision to take it was a no-brainer.
“The opportunity just seemed to be perfect,” he said. “This is a very easy place to invest in, it’s a great community, a great school community and the kids are great.”
Manns takes over a Seymour team that hopes to build off of last year’s three-win season and in the process get the Seymour community excited about the program again.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Leading the Owls to their first winning season since the 2006-07 season should be a good first step in re-energizing the fan base about their local team.
If you ask Manns if there is any outside pressure to win, he’ll say he doesn’t feel any. Though he’s in his first year at the helm of the Owls’ program, this isn’t his first coaching stint, and the only pressure he feels is what he has put on himself.
Manns was the coach for 10 seasons at Fredericktown High School in Ohio. He took the Freddies to sectional championships in 2002, 2009 and 2011, and they were conference champions in 2007 and 2011.
He also was an assistant coach at Western Michigan University from 1993 to 2000.
He’s also not concerned with the past and hopes his players aren’t thinking about the last several years, either.
“We’re just trying to go forward,” Manns said. “We’re trying to have a basketball program here that our entire community can be proud of and a team that people will want to come and watch. We want to have a team that plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Manns said the way the game is supposed to be played hasn’t changed much since its invention.
He wants his kids to be able to guard and rebound well and offensively not turn the ball over and get good shots.
Seems simple enough.
There will be a lot of leaning on the five Owl seniors this year, specifically Eric McCoy and Jayden Brown.
McCoy is the top returning scorer for the Owls, and Brown also saw a lot of varsity playing time last year.
He’ll also be looking to Colin Madden, Aiden Goen and Montana Suits to provide a lot of experience and leadership this season on and off the court.
“When you’re coaching high school kids, the thing you have to understand is the type of player that you have,” Manns said. “We want to be a hard-nosed team, we want to be a team that will guard and we want teams that come into Lloyd Scott Gymnasium and know they’re in for a battle.”
In addition to his focus on the high school team, Manns is looking to build the Owls’ program from the ground up with the grade school programs.
With the help of Seymour Community Schools, he helped bring back the fifth grade basketball program, which he believes will help grow the program for the future.
Earlier this month, the high school hosted a basketball media day to give the elementary and junior high players a chance to meet the high school team and have them sign Seymour jerseys and other memorabilia.
“We’re trying to build a program from the grade school teams all the way up,” Manns said. “There are just a lot of positives about Seymour and Seymour Community Schools.”
Seymour opens its season Tuesday at home against Corydon Central at 7:30 p.m.