Fleming County boys’ basketball coach Chris Stapleton resigned from the position on Monday. He’s taking a teaching position at Scott High, where he formerly taught and coached before joining the Panthers staff. (Marty Conley, The Daily Independent)
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
As a bachelor and young, Chris Stapleton’s idea of becoming the next head coach of the Fleming County boys’ basketball program was an ideal fit.
But as time progressed, an engagement followed by a wedding and a health issue started to put things in perspective. The drive from his home in Northern Kentucky to Flemingsburg daily started to disrupt the things many people value…time with their significant other.
After three years as the leader of the Panthers basketball program, Stapleton resigned from the position on Monday to accept a teaching role closer to home at Scott High, where Stapleton previously was.
“I really wasn’t looking. The Principal who is at Scott now was an assistant principal then. They reached out, had a teacher retiring and my name was brought up. At first I didn’t know if I was interested, it was a casual conversation, so I mulled it over for a few weeks, talked to my wife and weighed things out. I had already signed a contract at Fleming and didn’t want to leave them in a bad position. After speaking with the admins and Dr. Creasman at Fleming, they were completely understanding and it just felt like the right move. Everything happens for a reason and the pros outweighed the cons,” Stapleton said.
Over the last three seasons, wins weren’t as easy to come by, the Panthers posting a 32-60 record in his tenure, but regardless of the win-loss record, some positives came from it, starting with his second to last win with the program, beating his alma mater Mason County and ending a 21-year winless drought to the Royals, defeating them 73-70 in the Fieldhouse.
“There’s been a lot of good teams come through Fleming County and not beat Mason County. We had a good gameplan, played man, played zone and just stuck to the gameplan,” Stapleton said. “It was special. Coaching in the 10th and playing in the 10th, The Fieldhouse brings everything magical. We shot the ball really well and made enough plays. Regardless of what happened here while I was here, no one can ever take that away from us. We were the team that beat the streak.”
While his first season showed promise, the Panthers rebounding from a 2-13 start to the season to win nine of their next 12 and earn the No. 1 seed in the 61st District, an unfortunate injury to Jaden Campbell late in the season slowed things from there as they were upset in the first round of the 61st to Rowan County.
The Panthers struggled to gather momentum the next two seasons, making early exits in the district tournament and failing to reach the 16th region tournament.
During that time, an issue with Stapleton’s thyroid started to put things more into perspective.
“I don’t talk about my personal life much, but I had thyroid cancer. I thankfully have it under control. Looking back on that, there’s a lot more important things in life and family is definitely most important,” Stapleton said.
COVID-19 added more perspective, able to spend more time with his wife Hannah and not having to make the 60-plus mile commute at least five days a week.
“Spending more time at home and not making that commute put the bigger things in the big picture,” Stapleton added. “When I first got to Fleming County I was a boyfriend, then we get engaged. Things changed, her career got going, she sacrificed a lot for me and it’s time for me to sacrifice for her.”
He’ll now be teaching special education at Scott, a place he’s familiar with, serving as an assistant for three years with the Eagles, first under Brad Carr and then Steven Fromeyer, his last season the Eagles’ Final Four run in the KHSAA Sweet 16.
Stapleton’s also previously served as an assistant at Pendleton County and two years with Chris O’Hearn’s staff at Mason County.
There’s a possibility he’ll reunite with Fromeyer on his staff, but that it still to be determined. Regardless if Stapleton does join the staff or not, the passion to continue coaching is still there.
“In some capacity I would like to continue coaching. I’m working on my second Master’s degree in counseling. I’ve put it off a bit, this gives me extra time,” Stapleton said. “The one year I was with Fro, he helped me a lot in everyday situations of being a head coach and having those responsibilities. When I was there we’d say, ‘You’re six inches to the next chair and a lot more comes with it.’ A lot of times it’s not even coaching. You’re watching out for your kids, fundraising, getting out in the community or watching your feeder programs. A lot of people don’t see that. We really wanted to establish our presence in the community here. Whoever is taking in this team will be a team with good culture, they play with class, win with class and lose with class. A lot of things I learned here in three years I never would have. I would love to be a head coach again in the right opportunity.”
Whoever inherits the Panthers returns 12 of 15 from the varsity roster a season ago, but will be most likely without returning leading scorer Larkin McKee, the junior suffering a knee injury over the summer.
The program will now be in search of their eighth coach since Lake Kelly retired in 2003. Todd Messer (2003-06), Brad Frasure (2006-09), Brian Kelly (2009-12), Mark Starns (2012-14), LaMont Taylor (2014-16), Matthew Taylor (2016-17) and Stapleton (2017-20) the prior seven.
At the end of his tenure and outside of the win against Mason County, Stapleton is most proud of being able to put together the start of the Lake Kelly Classic and being able to honor the late coach and recently his late wife, Marti, who passed away on Friday.
“While the record wasn’t there, still a lot of good things that we accomplished and think the next person can take it to the next level,” Stapleton said. “There was a lot of false narrative about Fleming County when I first came, but the experience has been amazing. The community was there for me, Fleming County is a great place to work as a teacher and a coach. It’s a small town feel and they take care of their own. With the Lake Kelly Classic, I’m very proud we did that and started it up. Hope they continue to do that. With the Marti Kelly service award, we want to honor Lake and Marti and their legacies. They are royalty of Fleming County and very proud and thankful to get that started and build on it every year.”
