NEW PODCAST: Spring sports spotlight and much more

5/10/2019 |  Ben Johnson

It's hardware galore as spring sports wind down. Michael and Ben dissect baseball, slowpitch softball, golf, track & soccer as teams and individuals enter the final weekend of competition for this athletic season.

Find out which performances this spring have impressed the guys the most, and listen in as they give props to the outstanding offensive performances at the slowpitch state tournaments that happened to close out the school year.

All that, plus some coaching moves to mention, including Justin Brown filling the shoes left by Larry Callison at Tahlequah Sequoyah. And also some football recruiting tidbits.

Thanks as always for listening.

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! Have a topic you'd like discussed, or have any questions for us, feel free to contact the show at:

EMAIL: ben@skordle.com

@michaelswisher & @benjohnsontul

Koy Hughes headed to Garber

4/29/2019 |  Michael Swisher

Five generations of Koy Hughes’ family have graduated from Garber High School.

He didn’t want his son to break that tradition.

With that in mind, Hughes is leaving his post as head football and baseball coach at Waukomis High School to return to his alma mater.

Hughes will be an assistant football coach, serving as the defensive coordinator on Blake Lamle’s staff and take over for Lamle as the Wolverines’ head baseball coach.

“That’s where I’m from and it’s just an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” Hughes said.

He’s served as the Chiefs’ baseball coach the last three years, during which time they compiled a 38-39 record. He was the head football coach in each of the past two seasons and guided Waukomis to a 10-12 mark while reaching the playoffs each year.

“To have the opportunity to go learn from Coach Lamle, someone who has won two state titles, was really big for me,” Hughes said. “This is something, if I want to be a head coach again, that will really benefit me down the line.”

Lamle came to Garber prior to the 2018 season after a five-year stint at Shattuck, the last two as a head coach. His 2017 team won the Class B title and he was the offensive coordinator on the 2015 title team.

“I’m very excited to welcome Coach Hughes back home,” Garber superintendent Will Jones said. “This is a huge hire for our athletic program. He brings great experience as a head football and head baseball coach, and more than anything, the bleeds maroon and gray. He takes great pride in being a Wolverine and is going to come in here and grind and work for Garber.”

Hughes graduated from Garber in 1999 and played on the 1998 Class B state championship football team.

Hughes was also on some successful Garber baseball teams.

“Garber had a really good run in baseball in the 80s and 90s and I’d really like to help get us back there,” Hughes said.

GARBER'S WILL JONES TAKES SUPERINTENDENT'S POST AT DALE

3/24/2022 |  Michael Swisher

There’s not many places that can lure Will Jones away from Garber.

Dale just happened to be one of them.

Jones was approved earlier this month to take over superintendent duties for Dale Public Schools.

He’ll take over the role July 1 when the retirement of current Superintendent Ky Wilkins becomes official.

It will end a seven-year run at Garber, the last six as the school district’s superintendent.

“My most fulfilling years in public education have been at Garber,” Jones said. “It was a very difficult decision to leave.”

However, the pull from Dale was too much to resist.

“There aren’t too many places that would even allow me to consider leaving a great school like Garber,” Jones said. “But Dale is one of those places.”

“It’s a place that expects excellence in academics as well as extra-curricular activities,” he said.

Dale owns 40 state titles in athletics.

The baseball and softball teams have nearly annual reservations at their respective state tournaments. Baseball accounts for 21 state championships and softball another 11.

Girls basketball owns seven gold balls and has reached the state tournament every year of Eric Smith’s tenure.

The boys basketball program didn’t own a state championship…until about two weeks ago. 

The Pirates, with nary a senior starter, claimed the 2A title.

That’s the kind of programs Jones will be inheriting.

He feels he’ll be turning over Garber’s reins in solid shape as well.

Among his proudest achievements was helping pass one transportation and one building bond issue in 2018. Both got 84 percent voter approval.

The district now has two devices for every student…one for school and one for home.

“We’ve made some tremendous gains in technology,” he said.

Jones also did what many small-school superintendents have had to do: Fill several roles.

“I leave here proud knowing that I was willing to do whatever I needed to help the district,” he said.

That included dusting off his coach’s whistle and taking over the boys basketball program prior to the 2017-18 season.

“I really thought my coaching career was over after 2009,” Jones said. “There was someone above pulling the strings on that.”

Under Jones, the Garber boys basketball team reached state three times in four seasons.

It peaked with a Class A state title in 2020 and a runner-up finish in 2021.

He stepped down after that season and hired Fletcher Reed away from Snyder to take his place.

Reed coached Garber to another runner-up finish in 2022.

The Garber girls basketball team, under longtime coach Jamie Davis, qualified for state for a third consecutive season.

The football team has reached the playoffs each of the last three years and all but once during Jones’ tenure there.

Jones’ oldest daughter, Karsen, graduated from Garber last year and is now a freshman at OSU.

His youngest daughter, Khloe, will be an eighth grader next year.

“For her, both academically and in extra-curricular activities, this is also a great fit,” he said of Dale. He also said the location is ideal in a number of other ways, notably the proximity to his mother, who lives in Edmond.

“A lot of things just came together,” Jones said, “to let us know this was the right move to make.”

Hard Work Pays Off for Army Signee Matteson

12/16/2021 |  Michael Swisher