BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
It’s not often a basketball coach makes it to 300 wins, and it’s just as unlikely a coach makes it 20 years, but Sullivan County’s Glenn Vaughan hit both those milestones this year.
“I love coaching basketball, it’s a great challenge,” Vaughan said about hitting the milestone. “I’m not surprised that I’ve been coaching this long, and I’ve never though too much about the milestone. Milestones like that happen when you have a lot of years in, and I’ve been fortunate to have some great players and assistant coaches to help along the way.”
He’s still a little speechless about getting to both 300 wins, and 20 years.
“I knew it was coming, but I'm way more concerned with helping our team get better so we can have a great February,” Vaughan remarked.
Along the journey Vaughan brought the Griffins their first two District IV titles.
“The first district title team in 2012 was amazing,” Vaughan said. “We had a run of four years where we won 84 games from 2011 to 2014. That group was talented and extremely dedicated. The 2023 district title team showed so much improvement and came through when it mattered the most.”
They also had a seven season run of straight qualifiers during the 2010’s.
“The run of state qualifiers just shows the dedication level of our athletes and their families,” said Vaughan. “Our players live all over the place, so their families' willingness to sacrifice so their sons can have the best experience possible is huge. We are hoping to continue that success over the next few weeks.”
A lot has also changed in the last 20 years, and Vaughan has done his best to evolve with the times.
“Society has changed with the evolution of technology,” he said. “High school students are so into social media and just their phones in general. So communication is so important to teach and emphasize. Some people say work ethic has changed for the worse, and I don't necessarily disagree, but this group we have right now is one of the hardest working groups we've had. We've had 41 practices so far, and we've had one bad one and one that was a little below average. Every other day this group comes in and competes hard. Their attitudes are great, the selfishness that happens elsewhere in our world is nonexistent here.”
His first win came against CMVT at home in December of 2005, while his 300th was this past week against Millville, but don’t expect things to end there.
“Winning is fun,” said Vaughan. “So there's 20 years of district titles, league titles, state playoff wins, and other big victories to reflect back on, but the greatest memories are when you think back to individuals who really improved as basketball players and/or people over the course of their careers here, or the teams who achieved at a higher level than most thought they would. The teams that get along, play for each other, and have an energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing are so much fun to work with. That's what this group is doing this year, so I am happy that I got to experience this milestone with this team.”
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PHOTOS BY KYLER BURKE
