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Tiger hoops coach Gray on cusp of milestone victory
Entering tonight's Big 8 Conference West division clash with visiting Cassville, Nevada High head coach Shaun Gray is one win shy of his 100th career victory.
Gray concluded his initial season 8-18, but then averaged 18.5 victories over the following four campaigns. This season, his club is off to a sparkling 15-3 start, including a pair of tournament championships.
Gray discussed his program's sustained success.
"We've been blessed in our program to have very good players," he told the Daily Mail. "You don't accumulate wins without good players, and we've had those for several years in a row — and it's why we've had really goods teams. We've had players year-after-year that care about being good, and work on their game in the off-season, and our program has benefited from that. And, I've been lucky enough to be in a school district that's been supportive, and it's allowed for our program to have consistency, and for me to be here for six years."
Added Gray: "Really good players, and a supportive school-district. I think 100 wins is the culmination of those two things."
Gray, a 2005 Bronaugh alum, graduated from Pittsburg State in 2009. He then took his first post-college coaching job at McDonald County High School, where he matriculated from junior high head coach, to freshman-team head coach, and ultimately to junior varsity head coach. Gray then left McDonald County for Nevada High, where he spent a season as the freshman-team head coach prior to taking charge of the varsity program in May of 2014.
Despite finishing 10 games under .500 his rookie campaign, Gray said that squad laid the foundation for the success to come.
"We didn't have the wins that we've become accustomed to, but, that group kind of set the tone for our program," Gray explained.
That year's team featured two of the top players in program history, freshman forward Clay Gayman and sophomore point guard Matthew Sommer. It was another player, however, who had a lasting impact on the program — senior guard Brandon Barker. Gray was so pleased with Barker's display of leadership that he named an award after him. The Brandon Barker Most Improved player award is handed out annually at the team's postseason awards banquet.
"Brandon was a good example to the younger guys, the work you have to put in to be successful," Gray said. "And, it takes more than one or two of those guys. Guys caught on, and we've had a lot of those guys ever since."
Gray said he has many fond memories of the past half-dozen seasons, but reflected on what he considers one of the biggest moments during his time on the sidelines. Early in his third season Nevada defeated Neosho, 51-50, in the Carthage Invitational championship game. Sommer's last second-driving lay-in was off-the-mark, but scooped up by future D-1 commit Gayman for the buzzer-beating bucket. Nevada went on to have one of their most successful seasons in program history with 23 victories to go along with an 18-game win streak that stretched for seven weeks.
"That was really a spark for us," Gray said of the championship game thriller. "I think that was a time when a group of guys realized how good they could be. That same team beat Frontenac on a buzzer-beater when Matthew Sommer went coast-to-coast."
During the 18-game win-streak Nevada collected its first victory over former West Central Conference foe Kansas City Center Yellowjackets. On the road, in a tough environment, Gayman scorched the Yellowjackets for a career-high 43 points, including 27-of-32 from the charity stripe. The 27 free throws made in a single game tied for the second most in the history of Missouri prep basketball, behind only the record 29.
Gray said the rivalry with perennial power KC Center, still on-going despite a change of conferences for both schools, has been a memorable one. A week after the four-point road-victory, Nevada dispatched Center at Wynn Gym, 58-55 in overtime. A year later, Nevada came away with a stunning 22-point throttling of the visiting Yellowjackets. The schools matched up twice a season ago, with Nevada dropping a 49-48 senior night heartbreaker, then falling to the Yellowjackets in the district tournament, 70-57. Gray's club returns to Holmes Road in south Kansas City for the season finale with the Yellowjackets on Feb. 27.
Gray added that one of the victories he's been most impressed with over the course of his tenure was his squad's 58-55 victory over Class 5 state-ranked Willard, at the 4-States Challenge in Webb City Dec. 21.
"That was a good game, a good battle, good win for our guys," he said. "There's been a lot of really good wins. Just getting to experience those with our guys, and seeing the jubilation on their faces after those wins — those are some of the fondest memories for me." Gray said a key component to the success, is that his club is able to consistently dictate the pace-and-flow of games.
Gray credited his wife, Michelle, for being extremely supportive of his career choice.
"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my wife, and her commitment to being a coach's wife," Gray began. "Now that I'm a dad, there are weeks where I leave the house in the morning, and I see my son for four or five minutes before I take off. And then, I get home and he's already in bed. My wife's a teacher, she's exhausted, she's ready to go to bed. But, she embraces that, and I'm very lucky to have her. Because, if you don't have a spouse who embraces athletics, and being a coach's spouse — it can be very difficult. She's been very supportive along the way."
Gray also lavished praise on his coaching staff, notably close-friend Kyle Talley, who has been by Gray's side for the duration of his six seasons roaming the Wynn Gym sidelines.
"Both coach Talley, and (freshman) coach (Ross) Wolfe, we consider ourselves friends," he said, also mentioning several other former assistants no longer with the program. "Those guys help make my job easier, and make it fun."
Circling back to the student-athletes who have comprised the Tiger hoops program, Gray said their intensity and drive really shines through during practice.
"They make showing up to practice really fun," he said. "When practice is more fun than the game, when practice is something you look forward to, then you know you have a special group. And we've had a lot groups that have loved to battle hard in practice. That's what it takes — working hard in practice, so you can be successful in games."
NHS Athletic Director John McNeley, Gray's predecessor, and the longest tenured and winningest coach in program history, discussed Gray's success.
"Coach Gray works awful hard at what he does," McNeley told the Daily Mail. "He prepares hard, he scouts intensely, and knows the personnel for each opponent. I think he's a good practice-designer, organized in practice, and that his kids are well-prepared when they step into a game."
McNeley continued: "He's not afraid of hard-work. He's always been a guy who's not afraid to put his nose to the grindstone. And, I think he's grown over the years."
Added McNeley: "He's been gifted from a talent standpoint. But it's not always easy. There's more challenges to coaching talented teams than sometimes it appears. He's done a very nice job, and is an asset to our athletic program."
McNeley said he admires how Gray adapts to his personnel on a yearly-basis.
"We're the size of school where you typically do not get the stream of talent that we've had in recent years," he said. "Typically, it's more roller-coastery than that. And, it's a challenge, because each team brings different things to the table. So, I've always admired coaches who take what they have been given, and they will tweak how they play on both ends of the floor. I think that's a key to success at the high school level. You have to play that hand that you're dealt. A lot of coaches will try to take their personnel and adapt it to their style of play. Good coaches will adapt their style of play to the personnel that they have."
Gray's career record
• 2014-15: 8-18
• 2015-16: 14-12
• 2016-17: 23-4
• 2017-18: 21-5
• 2018-19: 18-8
• 2019-20: 15-3
Total W-L: 99-50