Portsmouth hires Eugene Collins as Basketball coach

From The Portsmouth Daily Times:



sign out account preferences PHS hires Collins as new coach
by John Stegeman, PDT Sports Editor7 days ago | 414 views | 0 | 1 | |
basketball
slideshow After a long process, the Portsmouth High School boys varsity basketball coaching position has been filled.

Eugene Collins, an ‘84 graduate of Portsmouth and a 19-year coaching veteran, was hired Thursday night at a school board meeting.

"I think in time that Eugene is going to do a wonderful job," Portsmouth Athletic Director Joe Albrecht said.

Albrecht said coaching candidates came down to Collins and Piketon head coach and MVP of Portsmouth's 1978 state championship team Jeff Lisath, but added that Lisath chose to remain at Piketon.

"To him, his family and his situation, Piketon means a lot to him," Albrecht said. "When he did tell me he wasn't going to (take the position), we knew right away that Eugene was going to do the job," Albrecht said.

Collins will replace Josh Shoemaker, who stepped down from the position to attend graduate school. Shoemaker, with Collins as an assistant coach, led the Trojans to a 9-11 record last season.

Collins spent the first 18 seasons of his coaching career at Shawnee State under Jim Arnzen, Geno Ford and current mens basketball coach Jeff Hamilton.

He stepped away from SSU to enjoy watching his son’s high school basketball career before being talked into the assistant position at his alma mater.

"I'm excited," Collins said. "Being an alumni of Portsmouth and playing back in the 80s when things were pretty good and having a child in the program, I'm really excited."

Despite the sub-.500 record, the Trojans showed some promise last year. This season, almost all of that team's contributors are gone.

"We lost a lot of kids," Collins said. "We had six seniors last year and we lost primarily our whole starting lineup."

With the Southern Ohio Conference rejecting Portsmouth's bid to enter the league earlier this year, the Trojans will likely be in the SEOAL South for the long haul. Even with the bigger schools on the schedule, Collins said Portsmouth can compete.

"My attitude is you play the game and the game is decided between the lines and not necessarily with numbers," Collins said. "The biggest thing is that we're going to be young and until we determine who is going to play, it's going to be a process that will take a little time."

Also at the meeting, Portsmouth hired Dan Stanley as its new head volleyball coach.

JOHN STEGEMAN can be reached at jstegeman02@hotmail.com