MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Coaching carousel never stops turning; not even for a pandemic.
Whitehaven High School recently hired former Overton standout Jamie Rosser to be their new boys basketball coach.
Arlington turned their girls basketball program over to former WNBA first-round draft pick Ashley Shields. She replaces Wes Shappley, who leaves for the same position at Bartlett, his alma mater.
"To be able to go back home and be able to put back into my school and the community I grew up in," Shappley said. "Doing that at bartlett, yeah that's one of the few reasons I would [leave Arlington]."
Shappley ends his Arlington tenure with a 108-31 record in four years, having made it to the AAA State Tournament each of the last three seasons. The Tigers were just two wins away from their first state title before the rest of the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19.
"I had a great run at Arlington," he said. "People supported girls basketball out there, so leaving that was tough. I had a great group of kids who meant the world to me as well, so like I said, very few reasons that I would leave Arlington, but this is definitely one that got me to move."
Shappley inherits a Panthers program that lost to his Arlington squad in this year's District 14 AAA championship. Bartlett has not been to a state final since 1928.