Combs & Hughes Lead List of Ohio HS Basketball Coaches of the Year
Article Presented By Pickaway Ross CTC Adult Education…
Three area coaches have garnered honors as state coaches of the year from the Ohio High Basketball Coaches Association, while a former coach received a lifetime achievement honor.
Portsmouth’s Amy Hughes, who led her (27-1) Lady Trojans to the Division 5 state championship, is the D-5 Girls Ohio Coach of the Year.
Unioto’s Matt Combs, in his first season as Shermans Boys head coach, led his alma mater to the SVC championship and a regional tournament berth at (23-4). For that, Combs was named Division 4 Boys Ohio Coach of the Year.
Minford’s Josh Shoemaker led the (25-2) Falcons to the SOC 3 Boys basketball title and a Division 5 regional tournament berth. He was named D-5 Boys Ohio Coach of the Year.
Legendary southern Ohio coach Tom Barrick has been honored with the Larry Wilson Award for lifetime achievement in promoting high school basketball in Ohio. Among his coaching stops over the years, Tom was probably best known in southern Ohio for his 19 seasons at Wheelersburg High School where he posted a (339-113) record with 14 sectional championships, 8 district titles and three trips to the Final Four.
His first Wheelersburg team (’94-’95) advanced to the state finals only to lose to Orrville. In 2006 and 2007, Coach Barrick’s teams returned to the Final Four but were defeated in the state semi-finals by Cleveland St. Joe’s (2006) and Cincinnati North College Hill (2007). He retired after the ’12-’13 season as the winningest basketball coach in Wheelersburg H.S. history. He later coached for a brief time at Eastern Pike High School.
He was named OHSBCA Coach of the Year in 2006. He had the honor of coaching the South squad in the 2001 Ohio North/South All-Star Game. In 1998, he was an assistant coach with OHSBCA Hall of Fame coach, Doc Daughtery in the Ohio/Kentucky All-Star Game. Among his other coaching honors, Coach Barrick was named Southeastern District Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2007.
