MHS’s Yester ’11 coach of year PREP ROUNDUP
Mentor deflects national group’s honor to others
BY KRISTIN KURELIC
The Dominion Post
CHARLESTON — Morgantown boys’ basketball coach Tom Yester was named the NFHS Coaches Association 2011 Coach of the Year for West Virginia. Yester was honored at halftime of the Class AAA state semifinal game between Martinsburg and George Washington, on Friday.
“I feel very fo r t u n at e, ” Yester said. “I’ve been doing it for a long time, and been very fortunate. I’ve had so many good kids, good coaches and good administrators to work with and it’s just a reflection of them a lot more than it is of me. They got me the award, I didn’t get them the award, so that’s the way I look at it. I feel very humble and fortunate to be in that position to get it and share it with all of them.”
Yester was nominated by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC), and elected by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association for the award. The NFHS considers the coach’s record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy.
The award was given for the 2010-’11 season, in which MHS went 24-3 and played in the state semifinals. The Mohigans were also the NCAC champions and Yester was named the 2011 NCAC Coach of the Year, in their last year in the conference.
Yester has a career record of 595-337 in more than 40 years of coaching, 30 of those at MHS. Yester has taken 14 teams, 13 from MHS, to the state tournament. He has taken the Mohigans to the regional finals in nine of the last 12 years. He was named the NCAC Coach of the Year six times and The Dominion Post Coach of the Year five times.
Before coming to MHS, in 1982, Yester coached at University High and Rowlesburg High. MHS was 18-7 this season, and appeared in the Region 1 finals.
“Coach Yester has always had quite a passion for boys’ basketball,” MHS athletic director Dan Erenrich said. “He works very hard and cares a great deal about the young men that he works with year-in and year-out. The thing I’ve always liked about coach Yester is that he always works very closely with his assistants and has never been threatened by asking for their opinions. They work together as a team, but ultimately he’s always been the one to make the decisions. He’s been very successful as a coach when it comes to sectional, regional and state appearances, and I think it’s a tribute to how hard he works with the kids and those around the boys’ program.
“He’s very loyal to Morgantown High School and always has been,” Erenrich added. “He’s always interested in caring about what’s going on in the lives of those at Morgantown High School, which I think is a tribute to the fact that he cares about other people. It’s not about himself, it’s about others.”