Casey Coons takes on his third year as head coach for the Trailblazers
CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Third year head coach Casey Coons is an inspiration, not only on the basketball court but off the hardwood as well.
Coons, born and raised in Indiana, graduated from Taylor University with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in health and physical education. He obtained his master鈥檚 degree from Ball State in athletic coaching in 2018. Coons didn’t start off as a head coach right off the bat, as he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Taylor University, for three seasons. He helped lead the Trojans to a 51-44 record and an NAIA national tournament appearance during his tenure.
Not only is Coons a basketball coach, but he ran up and down the court himself, racking up a bunch of accolades such as second all-time scorer at Taylor University with 2,138 points and holding the record for most three pointers made with 359 in his career.
鈥淚 got really close but didn鈥檛 get it done!鈥� he said about being second in all-time scoring. 鈥淚n all seriousness, that is a result of playing with great guys and being really fortunate during my time at Taylor. It鈥檚 a cool thing to be able to look back on, but in the grand scheme of things I鈥檓 more thankful for the relationships that I was able to build during my time there and the lessons I learned in the process.鈥�
Coach Coons received multiple national awards as an athlete, like being a two-time NAIA All-American, a four-time All-Crossroads league team selection and the Gates Howard award which is a very prestigious award.
In 2019, Coons was inducted into the Taylor Athletics Hall of Fame, which is an amazing accomplishment for Coach Coons and for any athlete who sacrificed their days and nights putting up shots and going the extra mile to be great. Coons is a prime example of someone who represents greatness on all levels of life.
鈥淭he Lord has used basketball to shape me my entire life,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y college coach, Paul Patterson, who recently passed away, used to always say that God speaks to us through the things we care about the most. I don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 an accident that I have a passion for basketball and for competition.
Coons holds himself and his players accountable for being great on and off the court. He believes that basketball is a way to help young men prosper into being great people in society.
鈥淢y purpose is to use the game as a tool to grow our young men for life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that the competitive experience provides such a unique opportunity to really reveal and train deep, meaningful values. We want to be great at basketball and there is nothing wrong with that! However, there should be a deeper purpose in how we train, what we train and who we are becoming through that process. We want to pursue excellence as athletes, as students, and as followers of Christ so that when our young men leave our program, they know who they are and how they are going to impact the world for the Kingdom of God.鈥�
Having the word 鈥渄rive鈥� within your character as a human being can and will potentially make you great at whatever you do in life. Being a team player on the basketball court not only gives your team confidence in themselves but individually it makes you value others alongside you, which ultimately creates a powerful atmosphere and connection between everyone on the team.
鈥淭o be successful in basketball, you have to work hard on yourself while interacting and working with others that are different from you while pursuing the same goals,鈥� Coons said. 鈥淎ll those things are true in life! If you can figure out how to process hard truths about yourself and learn to love and appreciate the value of others on a basketball court, I think that those skills can translate directly to your life outside of basketball. The realization of those lessons for our young men is what drives me to coach.鈥�
In just his second year as head coach, Coons took his program to the River State鈥檚 conference tournament. In doing so, he helped the Trailblazers improve both total wins and conference wins from 2018-19.
Coons鈥� goal is to continue to teach his players about running through adversity but never giving up when you’re in the fire. When you fight through hardships and come out of them better than before, that’s called growth.
鈥淚鈥檝e been so proud of how resilient our guys are and how they just keep coming and coming and coming through adversity,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 love for our guys to get to see some fruit for their labor in the form of more wins, and I believe that will come, but I just want our guys to continue to grow in the character traits that these struggles can produce.鈥�
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.