Veteran Oran hoop coach calls it a career after storied run

BLOOMFIELD – Midway through its MSHSAA Class 2 District 3 semifinal boy’s basketball game on Thursday against top seed Puxico, Oran had pulled to within 43-40 and were scaring the bejesus out of any fan wearing orange and black.

“Oran is always going to be prepared,” Indian coach Bryant Fernetti said after his team pulled away for a 74-62 win. “They are probably going to change things up, give you different looks, and they are going to play really, really hard.”

That last statement couldn’t describe a team coached by veteran Eagle coach Joe Shoemaker more so.

Shoemaker, who has been guiding the Eagle program for 16 seasons, announced his retirement following the game.

“It’s time,” Shoemaker said of stepping away.

Shoemaker has been involved in coaching at either Oran, his alma mater, or Advance “for 28 years,” however, the last 16 has been as head coach of the Eagles.

“It’s time for somebody younger,” Shoemaker said, who will also retire as the Oran High School principal. “Whoever they hire, I’m sure they will be in great hands.”

That is due to the work that Shoemaker has put in since he served as an assistant coach with the program when he was in college.

Since the 2008-09 season, the Eagles have only endured two losing seasons, that first year (11-14) and this year (12-15).

Shoemaker has won 303 games in his tenure while dropping 148 (67 percent win rate).

“I thank the community,” Shoemaker said, “the parents, the administration, my family, and most of all, the players over the years.

“I’m not the easiest guy to play for, so, I’ve been blessed with good people.”

And the Oran community has been blessed with Shoemaker.

The Eagles have made four trips to the MSHSAA State Finals, finishing fourth (2013), third (2020), second (2019), and winning the Class 2 title in 2017.

“The relationships that I have with my players,” Shoemaker said of what he holds dearest upon reflecting on his career. “When I see them out on the street and we talk, that is what I am going to miss the most. I’m going to miss those relationships with the coaches, the officials, and the players.

“I feel like we have done it the right way.”

The timing is special, also because Shoemaker’s youngest of three sons, Elijah, played his final game in the blue and white on Thursday.

“So, to go out with this group,” Shoemaker said, “who I have spent a lot of time with… A lot of people wrote this group off in January when we were going through a rough stretch. But what made me the most proud of this group is that we stuck together, and we got where we needed to be by the end of the year.

“We didn’t get the results that we wanted, but we came together as a team. It would have been really easy to fall apart and play badly. The credit for that all goes to the players that are in that locker room.”

A typical Joe Shoemaker quote. Delegating the entirety of credit elsewhere, when everyone in Oran knows who ultimately had his hands on the situation.