Former assistant coach Casey Ragan was named the new head boys basketball coach at Cocke County High School.
Cocke County didn’t have to look far to locate its new boys basketball coach. He was already on the staff. Thursday, CCHS promoted assistant Casey Ragan to head coach as he takes over for Ray Evans, who stepped down last month.
For Ragan, a 2010 Cocke County graduate and former member of the basketball team himself, replacing Evans will be a daunting task. Luckily, the former coach was in his corner the whole way.
“I won one (District 2-AAA title) with him as a player and one as an assistant on his staff,” Ragan said. “Coach Evans has taught me a lot and I’m appreciative of him putting me on his staff. He’s been supportive of me getting the job since he stepped down. He’s helped a lot.”
Ragan had to go through the interview process in spite of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The distancing requirements made the process last longer than expected and Ragan is glad to have it behind him.
“It (the interview process) was different, definitely different than anything I’ve ever been a part of it,” Ragan said. “It was a little drawn out because of the virus, but in the end I’m right where I want to be.”
Ragan was a three-sport athlete while a student at Cocke County, but it was his experience coaching an AAU basketball team while in college that helped him discover his true calling. Six years ago, Coach Evans added him to his staff with the Fighting Cocks.
CCHS is coming off a couple of down seasons and Ragan knows he can’t slow down as he attempts to rebuild the program. Last year the Fighting Cocks went 7-21 and 1-11 in the district.
“It’s just about being community driven,” Ragan said. “We’re a young team coming back, but there’s a lot of support out there. It just hasn’t been there in a while. We’ve got a good nucleus and a lot of kids. Once they realize they’re playing for the whole community I think that’s really going to help us.”
With the TSSAA mandated dead time underway, Ragan has yet to meet with his team. In the meantime, he must fill out his coaching staff and get prepared for when he can get young men in the gym.
“I’m super excited today, but I can’t see them for two weeks,” Ragan said. “When we get back, we’re going to meet with our multi-sport guys and meet with our basketball-only guys and get us a workout program in place to hit the ground running.”
Sign up for our free e-newsletters - delivered straight to your inbox.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.