Area high school basketball coaching carousel still spinning
Some basketball head coaching positions have been filled and others are still open as the school year nears its end.
The newest hire is in Peach County, which has tapped Prelvis Paster of Lamar County as its new boys head coach. He was approved by the school board Tuesday night.
Terry Smith left after a year and 2-22 record and was recently named to the same position at Bainbridge, where he’ll face Veterans and Warner Robins in the new Region 1-5A.
Paster is well-traveled in Middle Georgia, having been a head coach for boys or girls, coaching at Macon County, Mary Persons, Howard, Griffin and Lamar County.
He was an assistant at Peach County in the late 1990s.
“We’ve worked together before,” Peach County athletics director Chad Campbell said. “I know what kind of coach he is.”
Paster graduated from Macon County and played at Auburn-Montgomery from 1991-94.
Campbell still has a basketball opening after the retirement of girls head coach Maxine Cherry after more than 30 years. He expects to have a coach for the board to vote on in the near future.
Northside reached across the current Region 2-AAAAA to replace Casaundra Wilson as its girls basketball head coach. Wilson retired at the end of the season, and Jones County assistant Ashleigh Fox will take over.
Fox is from Lilburn and graduated from Parkview. She started college at Hampton but transferred to Georgia College. She was named to the 2011-12 edition of “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.”
West Laurens made a change, with Danny Johnson departing one year after taking over from O.J. Hall. Ed Ford, who led the Raiders to the Class AAA championship in 1981, has come out of retirement.
Ford came out of retirement a little more than a decade ago for a short stint at Upson-Lee, entering that job in 2003 with a 265-159 record. He spent 22 years at West Laurens the first time around, reaching the semifinals in 1982 and Sweet 16 in 1991. He was co-head coach last season at Montgomery County.
Along the way, Toombs County lost its boys basketball head coach. Chuck Hill resigned to take an assistant basketball and football job at West Laurens.
Dodge County is also looking for a boys basketball head coach to replace Brent Anderson, who left after one season for mostly family reasons to take a job in the Bulloch County area.
The Indians went 19-9 in Anderson’s lone season.
Another opening that is still taking applicants is the boys basketball position at Stratford, where Jamie Dickey stepped down last week to pursue a career in the automotive industry.
This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Area high school basketball coaching carousel still spinning."