Generation X's and O's

Some of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the state have come out of Southeast Missouri.

Ronnie Cookson directed Scott County Central's state-record 12-state title dynasty, and Lennies McFerren coached teams at Charleston and New Madrid County Central to nine state titles.

While those two coaching legends have hung up their whistles in the past decade, a new crop of coaches are vying to fill their shoes. This new group of young coaches has hit the ground running, finding success as they make the transition from former players to sideline leaders.

"I just think its a natural cycle. A lot of the great ones have gotten out of it in the last 10 years," said Bell City coach David Heeb, who already has coached the Cubs to two state titles.

In recent years former area star players such as Delta's Shawn Kinder, 25, and Scott City's Lance Amick, 24, have taken over programs at their alma maters, and this season former Southeast Missouri State University guard Cory Johnson, 27, took over Kelly's program.

"It's nice to see a bunch of young guys get the opportunity. We have a tendency to bring a lot of excitement to the game," Johnson said.

The archetype for the young coaches is Heeb, who won two state titles at Bell City before the age of 26. Heeb, now in his fifth year as head coach, led the Cubs to a 97-26 record (.789 winning percentage) in his first four seasons.

Heeb's success, along with that of his young colleagues, could give some credence to the thought that younger coaches are simply able to relate better with today's youth. According to Heeb, though, a coach's age does not make much of a difference in terms of dealing with players.

"I love coach Cookson to death, and he was 50 or 55 when he coached me," Heeb said. "I don't think age has as much to do with it, as much as a coach's ability to establish a relationship with the players."

Amick echoed those thoughts: "In the end, they know that I care about them. That's the most important thing."

One of the great benefits for young coaches is the instant name recognition they have with their players. Many of the area's young coaches played on successful teams in high school and are remembered as great high school athletes.

Amick, now in his second season with the Rams, was a standout at Scott City. He played key roles for the football, baseball and basketball teams before graduating in 1999.

Amick said while it may ease the transition, it is important not to rely too much on those successes as a player.

"That can sometimes hurt you, too, if you come in with the attitude 'I did this, I've done that.' You have to be careful using your own experiences," Amick said.

Not far down the road, Kinder, is in his second season in charge of Delta's program. The Bobcats enjoyed three of their best seasons over the past 20 years when Kinder was on the floor, winning 58 games from 1996 to 1998.

Heeb played for Scott County Central, while Johnson was a standout at Clearwater High School before having two productive seasons at both Three Rivers Community College and Southeast.

"With some of the younger guys, they see whether you played ball before, or they have watched you before when they were little, so you've already earned their respect," Johnson said.

While these younger coaches certainly bring something different to the floor than their veteran counterparts -- a better fashion sense at the least -- the coaching style of these young coaches shows many parallels to the legends of yesteryear.

Heeb, who considers himself a member of the tough-love philosophy, said he sees an old-school approach in many of the new crop of coaches.

"A lot of the young coaches you see today have a hard-nosed style of coaching," Heeb said.

With many of these young coaches taking on head coaching positions right out of college, there is no telling how many wins they may be able to rack up over long careers. If some of the area's young coaches can keep up the current pace, their names may some day be mentioned with the Cooksons and McFerrens.

Heeb's success at Bell City has been phenomenal so far, and both Amick and Kinder put up 20-win seasons in their first years. At Kelly, Johnson has his team rolling in his first season. The Hawks are 12-5, including a runner-up finish at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament as the No. 7 seed.

Heeb said what all these coaches have in common is a strong work ethic throughout their respective programs.

"A good program has a lot of kids that work hard and a lot of coaches that work hard," he said. "I think you have a lot of young coaches that have adopted that philosophy."

Kinder said it also helps to have had some good teachers to look up to.

"It all goes back to who taught us the game, as far as me personally. All the guys have come from great programs," he said.