The decision to step down as the Lebanon High School boys’ basketball coach wasn’t an easy one for legendary coach Bill Brown, especially after two years of success on the court and a third-year where a young team was showing improvement.
Brown resigned from his position after a confrontation with a spectator during an open scrimmage at Carr Gymnasium on February 12. During a board meeting last week, the Lebanon R-3 School Board accepted his letter of resignation.
Despite losing a 2,000 point scorer from a year ago and two other key seniors, locals around the community had voiced their frustration after a 2-16 record in 2020-21. With a team that graduated over 98 percent of their scoring, it seems hard to fathom being upset that a team is struggling to win games.
Since coming to Lebanon, Brown had two winnings seasons with a respective 13-11 record and a district championship appearance his first year, followed by a 17-10 record and a second-place finish in the Ozark Conference. In 2020-21, the team usually started a lineup that contained three seniors (two of whom had limited to none varsity time before this year), a junior (no varsity time before this year), and a freshman.
Since Brown’s departure, the team has gone 0-4 with losses by 32 points, 23 points, 46 points, and 17 points. The 46 point loss was to No. 2 state-ranked in Missouri Class 6 Kickapoo.
Brown mentioned in an interview with the LCR that he was thankful for his time here.
“I enjoyed the opportunity that Dr. (David) Schmitz and Mr. (Kevin) Lowery gave me to come here and do something that I love to do,” he said. “I thought we had two excellent seasons in our first two years, and I thought we put a print on those kids, and they bought in and worked hard and became successful.
“I loved working with the kids, students, teachers, and the support from the community was great.”
For the complete story, see the Wednesday edition of the Record.
