One month, three milestone wins for Jackson area girls basketball coaches

Over the past month, three West Tennessee girls basketball coaches have hit milestones that few in this area have obtained. 

To get to 500 or 600 wins in a career is truly a feat as a coach has either shown longevity at one school or the ability to build programs up at multiple schools.

The milestone wins began on Dec. 29 as Huntingdon's Farris Lowery got win No. 600 at home against Gleason.

On Jan. 25, Scotts Hill's Tracy Chandler got win No. 600 at home against Waverly.

And on Jan. 27, University School of Jackson's Tony Shutes got win No. 500 at home against Tipton-Rosemark.

"It is a great accomplishment, and it means that you had a lot of great players and fortunate to have been around a while," Shutes said. "We had players that believed in what we were trying to do and worked hard. We had good players and other players with marginal talent, but always worked hard to meet expectations or overachieve."

None of those accomplishments were easy, as all three coaches have been around West Tennessee basketball for a long time.

Lowery is the lone one of the three to get close to an equal number of wins at three different schools.

"It was one of my goals to get to win 600," Lowery said. "I had that goal two or three years ago, and I knew it was getting kind of close. It is a tribute to all of the great players that I have had over the years at Huntingdon, Milan and North Side."

He was 201-85 at Milan, 178-25 at North Side and is now 229-71 in two stints at Huntingdon. That is a .771 winning percentage over 27 years.

"I have had good players, and I am proud to have coached a lot of good kids," Lowery said.

Lowery said that two of his favorite moments came in 1981 at Milan and 2006 at North Side as his teams reached the state championship game. But he also didn't leave out last year's Huntingdon team.

"Both state tournament runner-ups were big ones, but last year's team that reached the quarterfinals was a special moment for me," Lowery said.

Shutes was different from Lowery in that he has been at USJ for more than 26 years as head coach.

"In this day in time, it is hard to stay in one place for one reason or another," Shutes said. "There are times when the administration thinks it is time to move on or you get antsy and think the pastures are greener on the other side. So far, I have had great administrative support at the school, and I have always been happy where I am."

To get to win No. 500, Shutes had to fight through some years of growing into a program and some tough years when the Lady Bruins were in Class AA playing bigger schools such as Covington, North Side and Haywood on a nightly basis.

"After the second year, there were doubts of me staying, but that third year Mr. Don Coffey came in," Shutes said. "He was a great administrator, and he stuck with me through some tough times when we were trying to build a program. He saw something in me that he believed in. If it wasn't for Don Coffey, it probably would have never reached 27 years."

Shutes currently has a 501-229 record (.686 winning percentage). And there are a few games that stand out to Shutes.

"I think the first year we made it to sub-state in 1994," Shutes said. "We had to go to Gleason, and those were back in the Bradford-Gleason power days. We made it with a bunch of freshmen, and we walked into the old Gleason building. To walk into that gym and that environment was unbelievable. Two year later, we said we were never going back to Gleason and we hosted a sub-state. We made our first state tournament berth." 

For Chandler, those 600 wins all have come at Scotts Hill. He is in his 30th year with the program.

"We have averaged 20 wins per year over 30 years," Chandler said. "I have 318 with the eighth-grade middle school and 22 with my interim time with the boys, so that is 941 total. I have reflected on it a little bit, and I feel fortunate to have stayed at one place for so long. I have had some great players with great attitudes, and that is what makes it worth while."

Chandler now has a 601-285 record (.678 winning percentage) with the Lady Lions with six district titles, seven region titles, 10 sectional appearances and two state tournament appearance.

"It seems like it has flown by in a hurry," Chandler said. "People say that when you get older time goes faster, and that seems to be true.

"I have always been happy here. I have had some offers to go somewhere else, but I have never had the desire to leave. It is a good community."

Three wins have stood out to Chandler in those 600.

"The first sectional win was special because there was a run there where we kept running into Bradford or Gleason, and they were ranked No. 1 in the state or won state, so to clear that hurdle stood out," Chandler said. "There was also the first state tournament win in 2011. I can also remember the first region championship we won in 1990."

So what about going for win No. 700 or going after McNairy Central coach Jerry Lott, who has 819 wins currently?

"I don't know about that," Lowery said. "It is one year at a time."

Reach Michael Odom at michdom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754 and on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.