Former WKU player and 7th Region coach of the year takes over Tates Creek girls’ basketball
Tates Creek’s Jana Costner is one of dozens of new coaches this year in boys’ and girls’ high school basketball ready to take on the challenge of competing in Kentucky’s most-beloved sport.
Costner comes to the Commodores after a year away from the game. She was most recently an assistant coach at Spalding University in Louisville and before that was a head coach at high schools including Central and Christian Academy-Louisville.
Her 2015 CAL team went 20-9, helping her earn 7th Region coach of the year honors. The move to Lexington allowed her to be closer to family. The job at Tates Creek offered her a chance to get back into the game.
“I took that one year off and was ready to get back into it,” said Costner, a Franklin, Tenn., native who played for Western Kentucky, graduating in 2002. “It’s really exciting to have the opportunity.”
Costner succeeds Matt Yates, who led a 6-11 Tates Creek squad to a pair of shock wins over higher seeds in the 2020-21 43rd District Tournament to earn the school its first girls’ district title in 21 years. Yates stepped down after an 11-13 campaign last season.
“We’ve got a young group, but they are eager to be in the gym. They want to work,” Costner said. “They’re putting in the work. I think it just starts with merging the two groups — upperclassmen and the large group of eighth-graders that we have, and just building them up and getting them acclimated to the system.”
Tates Creek played well in a close 54-52 loss to Paris in its season opener at its new gym and even better in a 57-36 rout of Frankfort the next evening. Friday, the Commodores walloped district rival Paul Laurence Dunbar, 66-28.
“Everyday we get better. And that’s all I can ask for,” Costner said. “The things that we see, we point them out, and we make corrections right then. We try to nip those things in the bud so they can continue to improve.”
In all, by the Herald-Leader’s count, there are 71 new boys’ coaches and 78 new girls’ coaches across the state this season.
Other coaching hires of note this year
▪ Carroll County boys: Roger Harden, the former Kentucky player who is third all-time in assists at UK has returned to the high school coaching ranks. He coached for five seasons at Williamstown until 2017, the year the program made its first region tournament in 20 years.
▪ Paris boys: Shawn Ransom, formerly the girls’ coach at Bryan Station and Frederick Douglass, takes over the boys’ program in his hometown.
▪ Madison Southern boys: Bill Bevins, a longtime Eagles assistant, took over after Austin Newton moved on to Berea College.
▪ Great Crossing girls: Matt Walls takes over after the last few years as the Warhawks’ junior varsity boys’ coach.
▪ Madison Central girls: Scott True takes the helm in his first head coaching stint since his days at Lexington Catholic. He was a Franklin County assistant for the last few years.
▪ Model girls: Scotty Sutton, the Patriots’ athletic director for the last few years, takes over the girls’ program while retaining his other job. Sutton was a longtime baseball and girls’ basketball coach at Sayre.
▪ Campbellsville girls: Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, a former Kentucky player, has a new team. She last head coached at Collins.
▪ Western Hills girls: Jana Hughes, was interim head coach at West Jessamine last season and head junior varsity coach there the year before.
▪ Caverna girls: Madison Faulkner takes over from her father, Cornelius.
▪ Simon Kenton girls: Brenden Stowers takes over for his father, Jeff.
▪ Pendleton County girls: Patrick Kelsch, returns to the game after some time off. He was previously at Bracken County and Robertson County.
▪ As previously reported, Erik Daniels is the new girls’ coach at Paul Laurence Dunbar, Vince Sanford is the new boys’ coach at Lafayette and Frederick Douglass named former Model coach Wes Scarberry as interim boys’ coach this season.
Boys’ coaches who moved to new teams
Breathitt County: BB King, formerly at Knott County Central; Caverna: Steve Barker, formerly at Greenup County; Graves County: Jason Holland, formerly at South Warren; Leslie County: John Noble, formerly at Breathitt County; Logan County: Josh Frick, formerly at Graves County; South Warren: Carlos Quarles, formerly at Russellville; Whitley County: Eric Swords, formerly at Williamsburg Williamsburg: Anthony Hibbard, formerly at Oneida Baptist.
Other new boys’ coaches
Ballard: Gregory Willis; Ballard Memorial: Zach McDaniel; Bath County: Steve Wright; Belfry: Michael Hagy; Bishop Brossart: Benjamin Franzen; Bourbon County: Derek Robinson; Burgin: Todd Claunch; Casey County: Todd Carman; Clinton County: Nick Irwin; Cordia: Mitch Smith; Cornerstone Christian (Shelbyville): Jason Bradshaw; Covington Latin: Greg Smorey; Crittenden County: DJ Pigg; Dixie Heights: Chad Fields; Doss: Zach Allender; Eminence: Brandon Gabbard; Fairview: Clarence Thompson; Fern Creek: Ellis Myles; Fort Campbell: Larry Dixon; Frankfort Christian: Aaron Bennett; Fulton County: Craig Clay; Glasgow: William Buford; Green County: Jordan Gilbert; Greenup County: Corey Allison; Harlan County: Kyle Jones; Holmes: Tony Perkins; Holy Cross (Louisville): Matt Thomas; Jackson City: Dewayne Morris; Kentucky Country Day: George Hornstein; Knott County Central: Casey Huff; Knox Central: Kris Mills/Harvey Maybrier; Livingston Central: Matthew Hargrove; Louisville Collegiate: Mark Lieberman; Ludlow: Aaron Stamm; Marshall County: Sawyer Donohoo; McCracken County: Dustin Roberts; Menifee County: Derrick Robinson; Middlesboro: John Wheat; Moore: Richard Gatewood; Morgan County: Reece Griffith; Muhlenberg County: Aaron Morris; North Hardin: Michael Baffour; Oldham County: Josh Leslie; Oneida Baptist Institute: Mitchell Madden; Phelps: Brandon Ratliff; Portland Christian: Terrance Farley; Prestonsburg: Chase Parsley; Robertson County: Thomas Mitchell; Russellville: Phil Todd; Ryle: Nicholas Dorning; Seneca: Jordan Johnson-Fant; Somerset Christian: Alan Gover; Thomas Nelson: Terrence Miles; Trimble County: Brent Welty; Valley: Roy Beeler; WEB DuBois Academy: James Alexander.
Girls’ coaches who moved to new teams
Bishop Brossart: Steve Brown, formerly at Scott; Paul Laurence Dunbar: Erik Daniels, formerly at Woodford County; Trigg County: Greg Stephens, formerly at Metcalfe County; and Union County: Cory Coble, formerly at Trigg County.
Other new girls’ coaches
Ashland Blazer: Stacy Davis; Barbourville: Amy Shields; Betsy Layne: Kory Thacker; Bourbon County: Darryl Watkins; Calloway County: David Brown; Campbell County: Davey Johnson; Carroll County: Scott Anderson; Christian Academy-Louisville: Byron Wilkins; Clay County: Gemma Parks; Collins: Trevor Mason; Covington Latin: Matt Juelg; DuPont Manual: Ashley Franklin; East Carter: Matthew Clark; Eastern: Madison Clements; Eminence: Joshua Keene; Fairview: Ryan Kinder; Fern Creek: Joni Brown; Francis Parker School: Kenny Swincher; Fulton City: Jeffrey Klimper; Garrard County: Evan Preston; Glasgow: Kelsey Kirkpatrick; Harrison County: Bill Watson; Hazard: Todd Howard; Heritage Christian Academy: Darrell Crawford; Highlands Latin: Eric Browning; Holmes: Tracy Pope; Holy Cross (Louisville): Jacob Kaelin; Jackson City: Kenneth Patrick; Johnson Central: Jim Hicks; June Buchanan: Doug Clark; Knott County Central: Justin Amburgey; Lee County: Tyler Hensley; Ludlow: Blake Clary; Lynn Camp: Joshua Mobley; Marshall County: Jimmie Holder; Mason County: Paula Buser; Metcalfe County: Heidi Coleman; Middlesboro: Sally Adams; Nelson County: William Dugan; North Hardin: Vonce Isom; North Hardin Classical: John Murray; Oldham County: Ron Ferch; Paducah Tilghman: Stephani Gray; Pike County Central: Bobby Spears; Raceland: Marty Thomas; Rose Hill Christian: Kevin Nibert; Russellville: Orlando Hayden; Sayre: Eric Kinder; Scott: Eric Pouncy; Seneca: David Girton; Shawnee: Brenton McNear; Shelby Valley: Mikie Hall; St. Mary: Aseer Scott; Thomas Nelson: Kelly Wood; Todd County Central: Nick Suttle; Trimble County: Zach Adair; Waggener: Glennisa Nichols; Walton-Verona: Rianna Gayheart; Wayne County: Austin Shearer; West Jessamine: Matt Hilkens; Western: Taijuan Mitchem; Williamsburg: Emily Downey; Williamstown: Brady Gray; and Woodford County: Latear Eason.
