Sheehy returns to coaching at Colcord

n The former JBU head coach retired in 2007.

Graham Thomas/File Photo Former John Brown men’s basketball coach and Golden Eagle Hall of Famer John Sheehy was hired as the new head boys basketball coach at Colcord (Okla.) on Thursday night. Sheehy was head coach for 18 seasons at JBU and guided the Golden Eagles to the NAIA Division I National Championship.
Graham Thomas/File Photo Former John Brown men’s basketball coach and Golden Eagle Hall of Famer John Sheehy was hired as the new head boys basketball coach at Colcord (Okla.) on Thursday night. Sheehy was head coach for 18 seasons at JBU and guided the Golden Eagles to the NAIA Division I National Championship.

COLCORD, Okla. -- John Sheehy believes he's got one more run left in him as a basketball coach and molding the lives of young men.

Sheehy, the former John Brown men's basketball coach and member of the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame, was hired Thursday night to be the head boys basketball coach at Colcord (Okla.) in a special school board meeting, Colcord athletics director Terrill Denny announced.

Since retiring in 2007, Sheehy has looked into several different coaching options, and the Colcord job fit the parameters he had set.

"In the back of my mind, what I really missed was not having the coach-player relationship," Sheehy said. "It's not duplicated anywhere else. You've got young men that you're investing in their lives. That's a different relationship that I have certainly missed and one I'm looking forward to establishing with a group of young men.

Coach Rick Hendren resigned in February after leading the Colcord boys basketball program for the last 12 seasons. The Hornets went 4-16 in 2016-17.

Denny said Colcord officials were in discussion about potential candidates when Sheehy's name and potential interest in the job was brought up.

"We didn't feel we could pass up someone with this experience and knowledge," Denny said of Sheehy. "We're hoping he can impart his knowledge and wisdom about how to run a program."

Sheehy knows plenty about running a basketball program. For 18 seasons from 1989 to 2007, he was the head men's coach at John Brown where he piled up 314 wins and a .548 winning percentage.

Sheehy led the Golden Eagles to the 1990-91 National Christian College Athletic Association men's basketball championship. Then in 2004-05, he guided the Golden Eagles to the NAIA Men's Division I National Championship. The basketball court at Bill George Arena bears his name, and in 2016 he was inducted into the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame.

Denny said Sheehy expressed an interest in helping in the development of the basketball program from the varsity all the way down to the fourth-grade level. Denny said with Sheehy's age, Colcord is going into this knowing that Sheehy is not the long-term coach for the program, but he is one that can get the program going in the right direction.

"We're going to lean on him for building a strong foundation from fourth grade to 12th grade," Denny said. "His knowledge and wisdom -- he's forgotten more than we'll ever know. He wants to give back and mentor players and coaches and we couldn't be happier. We'll take him as long as we can get him."

Sheehy, 71, retired from coaching after the 2006-07 season at John Brown, but he's never really gotten away from the game in the 10 years in between.

Sheehy's son, Clark Sheehy, coached the next seven seasons at John Brown and has spent the last three years as head coach at Southwest Baptist (Mo.), and John Sheehy has been a regular attendee of practices and games. He's also remained involved with the men's program at John Brown with current head coach Jason Beschta.

"I've seen a lot of practices and games over the last 10 years," John Sheehy said. "The biggest concern is how to adapt the program we had established at John Brown into the Colcord system with the way they do things and sharing athletes with football and baseball. In that size of a school, athletes need to play everything they want to play."

Dale Akins, former head coach at Siloam Springs and Kansas, Okla., and a good friend of John Sheehy, thinks the move will be a good fit for both Sheehy and Colcord.

"I think he's going to be a blessing for them really," Akins said. "I think he brings a different perspective into boys basketball. They're going to be disciplined, they're going to take great shots and play good defense. They've always had good athletes and good size, they just haven't won consistently well and I think he'll bring a lot of consistency with him.

"I'm excited for John. I think it's not only great for Colcord but great for him."

Denny said Colcord also is in the market for a new girls basketball coach.

Mark Sherrell, who was head coach for 12 seasons, resigned in March, and the district hopes to name his replacement by the next board meeting in mid-April.

Sports on 04/02/2017