Former Allen County-Scottsville
and University of Louisville basketball player Shelby Harper will be on the
sidelines this year as part of the AC-S Lady Patriot coaching staff. Harper
will serve as an assistant coach, returning to her hometown high school nine
years after graduation.
“I’m excited,” Harper said. “I
never really thought I would be back here as a coach.”
Harper graduated from AC-S in
2009 after a stellar five-year career. The 5’4” guard finished high school with
1,627 points---currently fifth on the all-time scorers’ list. Harper is second
all-time at AC-S in assists (442) and steals (411). She holds the single-season
record for steals (146). Her career-best 38 points in a game ranks fifth best
all-time. Harper averaged 19.2 points per game as a senior, helping guide the
Lady Patriots to a 21-10 record and into the Region 4 tournament for the first
time in eight seasons.
After turning down the opportunity
to play college ball on scholarship at several smaller NCAA or NAIA colleges, Harper
elected to walk-on at the University of Louisville. In her first season for the
Lady Cards, Harper worked her way up the depth chart and into the Louisville
starting line-up. Harper started 17 games, averaged 3.8 points per game, and
dished out 61 assists. Harper earned a scholarship and would play in 92
additional games while at the University of Louisville. In her 2013 senior season,
the Lady Cards posted a 29-9 record and finished the season as the NCAA
National Runner-Up.
Harper admits that coming back
to the game to coach will be a learning experience. However, she is excited to
contribute.
“I’ve heard they needed some
guard input so hopefully I can help with that,” Harper said. “Hopefully, I can
help (to develop) the point guards. I also know what they are going through.”
Harper played for coaches
Garry DeWitt and Brad Bonds while in high school and under coach Jeff Waltz in
college. She believes that the lessons learned from playing under the trio and as
part of successful programs at both the high school and college level will also
benefit a Lady Patriot program in transition.
Once the season starts, Harper
will not only assist with the varsity but coach at the freshman or junior
varsity level. She admits her preference will be to up the tempo offensively.
“I like for teams to play
fast,” Harper admitted. “I will just have to see how the girls play and go from
there, but I would rather run and gun.”
The search for a head girls
basketball coach continues. High school and District officials have spoken with
several applicants but have been unable to select a replacement for coach Brad
Bonds---who stepped aside in May to become the coach for the boys basketball
program at AC-S.
The drawback in selecting a
head coach has been that few teaching positions have become available in the
District, hence, making it difficult to find an applicant who can also fill an
available classroom position. If a head coach isn’t hired to fill a teacher
slot, officials will repost the position in August or September. This will also
allow any educator or former coach who retired from education this summer to
apply. Under Kentucky education retirement laws, retirees must not have any contact
with a school district in the 90 days after their retirement. AC-S officials
remain confident that a head coach will be in place October 15, the day that
practice can officially start for the basketball season.
Until a new head coach is selected,
Harper will oversee open gym and/or pre-season conditioning. The search also
continues for another assistant that can join the Lady Patriots on the bench.
School officials will also assist Harper during the time as well.
AC-S is expected to return
seniors Sarah Sutton, Mason Towery, and Jaylee Woods. Sutton averaged 18.6
points and 7.7 rebounds last year. Ironically, Sutton will start the 2018-19
season 10 points behind Harper on the all-time AC-S scoring list. Towery added
13.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while Woods contributed 3.7 points before an ACL
injury sidelined her for the year in December.
The Lady Patriots finished the
2017-18 season with an 18-12 record.