Maplewood's Ty Wilson named Tennessean boys basketball coach of year

Michael Murphy, USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

It might have had a storybook ending, but Maplewood’s 2016-17 season was anything but a smooth ride.

Maplewood coach Tyron Wilson with his team in the Class AA semifinals against Haywood on March 17 at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.

While non-serious in nature, a rash of early season injuries took its toll, especially when East Tennessee State signee and reigning Mr. Basketball Bo Hodges was shelved for six games because of a tweaked knee.

“At one point in the season (almost) everybody was hurt,” Maplewood coach Tyron Wilson said. “Whether it was Bo, Hassan (Littlepage), Bobo (Hodges) — I think R.T. (Wilcox) was the only one who was healthy throughout the season — we faced a lot of adversity.”

And while the Panthers (29-7) wavered, dropping five of their first 18 games, which included a 36-point drubbing at the hands of top-ranked Brentwood Academy on Jan. 18, Wilson and his staff never let things go off the rails.

“They see the reward now, man,” added Wilson, The Tennessean 2017 Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. “They see why we did all the things we did. They would get agitated with us and we would get agitated right back with them. But it was all for this.”

The Panthers, led by Hodges’ 26-point average, won 16 of their final 18 games, culminating with last month’s 60-57 Class AA championship win over Knoxville Catholic.

“These guys were focused; they knew from the beginning of the year what the goal was,” Wilson said. “For us to bring a gold ball to Maplewood and back to Nashville, it means everything.”

Maplewood is the first Metro Public Schools boys basketball team to win a state title since 1996.

“My mentor (former M.L. King coach Doc Shelton) was the last one to do it 21 years ago,” Wilson said. “He always had that on me.”

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com or 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.