‘Icing on the cake.’ Once out of the game, Douglass coach now in the Boys’ Sweet 16.
Frederick Douglass High School hasn’t made any sort of official announcement, but that “interim” tag placed on boys’ basketball coach Wes Scarberry when he was hired looks a tad out of date.
Since taking over the Douglass program last September, Scarberry has earned region coach of the year honors from two different peer groups and led the Broncos to the 11th Region title and its first trip to the UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16.
While it might seem the decision to pick Scarberry as interim coach was an easy one, the former Model head coach and Douglass assistant was actually out of the game for two years. He was not on the former coach’s staff after being passed over for the top position when Kurt Young stepped down in 2020 after three seasons.
“It was, obviously, disappointing being the assistant coach and then not being selected to be the head coach originally,” Scarberry said. “I just decided to be a dad and husband and a family guy for two years and loved it. I absolutely loved it.”
And Scarberry remained a teacher at Douglass in the meantime. A plan to join Paul Laurence Dunbar’s staff last season fell through when the transfer of his teaching job from Douglass to Dunbar couldn’t be worked out. The trek from his home in Madison County to Douglass to teach and then to Dunbar to help coach was a bit too much for a dad who’d gotten used to being at home.
So, when Douglass abruptly dismissed Jason Moseley at the start of this school year, it had a former 11th Region coach of the year and ex-Douglass assistant walking the halls.
Scarberry won his previous coach-of-the-year honor in 2013 by leading Model to a 23-7 record and 11th Region All “A” Classic title. He coached Model for 12 seasons with an overall record of 174-169 and made two trips to the big region tournament as a 44th District runner-up.
He was let go at Model in 2019 despite leading the small-school Patriots to an 18-11 record that season. Model hasn’t had a winning record since. He’s still close with many of his Model players and some have come to games to root him on at Douglass.
“At a school like that, you have to really, really do everything you can just to compete,” Scarberry said. “And I think that’s what really brings out a lot of my coaching characteristics is just that determination and willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed.”
Scarberry, an Ohio native and Eastern Kentucky grad, knew he could coach. And he still wanted to coach.
“When you’re out of coaching, it’s not like you’re completely away from the game,” Scarberry said. “I studied the game. I watched a lot of games on video and TV. You get to pick up different things that you can add to your system if you ever get another chance. And I really think that helped coming into the situation at Douglass.”
However, when Scarberry took on the Douglass basketball program, 11 players, including three potential starters, were committed to the Broncos’ Class 5A football champions. He didn’t have his full complement of players until after the Dec. 3 football finals almost two months after the first official basketball practice.
“The challenge for me was going to be when they came back from football, because I never coached those guys,” Scarberry said.
It helped that Scarberry had a relationship with senior team leader and point guard Kai Simpson.
“He was always my guy,” said Simpson, who didn’t play much back when Scarberry was an assistant. “I was on the bench talking to him. … I trusted him right away for sure.”
And when the football players came on, they didn’t just bring more athleticism — although they brought a ton of that.
“From day one, they were just completely locked in,” Scarberry said. “I think a lot of it was the football team’s success. Those guys kind of knew what it took.”
Early losses to Great Crossing and Lexington Catholic when the football players were either not yet on the roster or not yet meshed in meant the Broncos had a lengthy climb to earn respect.
But topping defending state champion George Rogers Clark 63-52 on Feb. 7 signaled Douglass was for real.
Topping then No. 1 Lexington Catholic 43-41 in the 11th Region finals on March 6 meant they were heading to Rupp Arena.
Scarberry’s decision to bide his time and be with his family to wait for the right opportunity had paid off in ways he probably couldn’t dream of.
“When the horn went off, that’s the first thing I thought of — my wife, my kids and just how happy they’ve been all year with the success we’ve had,” Scarberry said after the region championship. “ They knew I missed coaching and wanted to get back into it.”
Now, he has a team that’s considered by some as one of the best this week. They go out to prove it beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday night against Martin County.
“To be able to coach a team like this is just icing on the cake,” Scarberry said.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 7:15 AM.
