Hoops: Centennial boys find new coach in Coleman

Miquel Coleman met with Centennial High School boys basketball players and parents for the first time Monday night in Franklin. On his drive back to Louisville, Ky., late that night, he was planning his next trip.

Coleman was officially hired to take over the Cougars program Monday, about seven weeks after the school released Pete Froedden for undisclosed reasons.

“I’m just exciting about coming here,” Coleman said. “I think it is a great opportunity for me and my family and one that just couldn’t be passed up.”

Coleman has coached the past two seasons at Seneca High School in Louisville. He led the Red Hawks to a 19-11 finish overall in one of the state’s toughest districts in the same league that produced this year’s basketball Kentucky state champion in Trinity High School.

The 19 wins was the school’s most in 10 years and first winning record in six seasons. The Red Hawks lost to Waggener, which closed the season 27-4, in the 27th District tournament semifinals. Waggener, which earned a No. 5 ranking in the state by the Associated Press, fell to Trinity in the district championship. Coleman finished runner-up in the Courier Journal’s Seventh Region Coach of the Year ballot.

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“Again, that district is really, really tough, but we did some things the school hasn’t in a while,” Coleman said.

The Red Hawks played in the Louisville Invitational Tournament in January and reached the final for the first time since 2004. They up-ended Ballard – a state qualifier two seasons ago – in the semifinals before falling to Trinity in the championship, 57-40.

Centennial principal Chris Hames said Coleman’s passion is contagious.

“We are excited about the future of our program,” Hames said in a release. “(Coleman) has great experience, an inspirational story, brings great energy and has experience coaching and competing at a high level.”

Coleman, 46, has coached for 15 years. He spent one season as head coach for Shawnee before leaving for Jeffersontown for two seasons, prior to getting hired at Seneca. He was also an assistant coach at Louisville Central for nine years before taking over the head coaching job at Shawnee.

Centennial is coming off a solid 18-11 regular season, but missed the Region 6-AAA tournament for the first time in four years. The Cougars were up-ended in the first round of the District 11-AAA tournament by rival Ravenwood. The loaded area district produced two Class AAA state tournament teams in Franklin and Brentwood with the Bruins reaching the state semifinals in March. Centennial was the only team in the district to beat both Franklin and Brentwood this year. 

“I think this will be an exciting school to be a part of and one of the things that really stood out to me was how the players I met with today wanted to be pushed and challenged,” Coleman said. “They asked me how I was going to do that. That really excited me and gave me a great feeling as a coach.”

Coleman is a longtime friend of Greg Glass, who coached at Independence and is the current Summit assistant principal. The two have known each other for more than 20 years.

“He is one of my best friends in life and we’ve helped each other a lot over the years so it will be neat to be joining his area,” Coleman said. “The Williamson County Schools system is special to be a part of.”

Coleman said he and his wife Tiffany and their sixth grade son will make the move to the Williamson County area in early to mid-July. Until then, he said he will be working with Centennial assistant coach Megan Moore to put together a plan to be better involved with Cougars over the summer.