Mustang High School names new girls basketball coach
By Brendan Hoover
Managing Editor
Mustang School Board members approved Westmoore High School boys basketball head coach Robert Foreman to be the next girls basketball head coach at Mustang High School.
The decision was made in executive session during a special meeting Monday night. Mustang Public Schools Athletic Director Mike Clark said Tuesday that Foreman was the best candidate out of 23 applications reviewed by administrators from coaches inside and outside the district.
“The biggest thing was, he is the best candidate for the job. He has good experience, and I think he’ll bring a little bit of stability back to our girls program,” Clark said. “I think he’s got a world of knowledge, and he’s a good communicator and a great motivator.”
Foreman’s selection ends a lengthy search to replace MHS girls interim head coach Taft Turner, who left the position earlier this year to take the boys head coaching job at U.S. Grant.
Turner coached MHS for one season following the resignation of Nichole Copeland in 2008. The Lady Broncos went 8-15 on the 2008-09 season, losing to Norman in the first round of the Class 6A regional playoffs.
Clark said Foreman is working at a basketball camp this week but will take over the MHS girls job by the end of the week.
“I think he will try to round up as many of the girls as he can this week. He’ll be working for the next week or two with people inside and outside the district to figure out what we can do for a staff,” Clark said. “I think those are his two biggest concerns.”
Foreman said he planned to tell his Westmoore players about the position change on Tuesday, and he would begin calling Mustang’s players later in the day to schedule a team meeting for Thursday night.
Mustang’s legacy of success in girls basketball, including six state championships, the most recent in 2006, and a program coached by the likes of Bob Pigg and Copeland made the job intriguing, Foreman said.
“It’s the most tradition-rich girls basketball program on the western side of the state of Oklahoma. That’s what really got me interested and got me thinking about the position,” he said. “I look forward to continuing what they did. I know the expectations are high, but I like that challenge.”
Foreman was the head coach at Westmoore from 2000-2009, and he was the head boys basketball coach at Chickasha from 1998-2000. Before that he was the assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Arts and Science Oklahoma in Chickasha from 1997-1998, and he was the men’s basketball coach at Oklahoma Christian University from 1995-1997.
A 1990 MHS graduate, Foreman played college basketball at Barat College in Lake Forest, Ill., about 30 miles north of Chicago, and he served as the men’s assistant coach there for a season in 1994-1995.
Aside from coaching AAU teams, this will be Foreman’s first job coaching girls basketball.
“Basketball is basketball. It’s all about communication and relationships and how you deal with people. It’s not a concern of mine,” he said.
Foreman and his wife, Shannon, have two school-age daughters who play sports, and being closer and more involved with them made the job more attractive, he said.
“That was important to me,” he said. “I think it’s a better environment for raising two daughters, being around a girls locker room as opposed to a boys locker room.”
For more Mustang news and sports go to mustangpaper.com
Managing Editor
Mustang School Board members approved Westmoore High School boys basketball head coach Robert Foreman to be the next girls basketball head coach at Mustang High School.
The decision was made in executive session during a special meeting Monday night. Mustang Public Schools Athletic Director Mike Clark said Tuesday that Foreman was the best candidate out of 23 applications reviewed by administrators from coaches inside and outside the district.
“The biggest thing was, he is the best candidate for the job. He has good experience, and I think he’ll bring a little bit of stability back to our girls program,” Clark said. “I think he’s got a world of knowledge, and he’s a good communicator and a great motivator.”
Foreman’s selection ends a lengthy search to replace MHS girls interim head coach Taft Turner, who left the position earlier this year to take the boys head coaching job at U.S. Grant.
Turner coached MHS for one season following the resignation of Nichole Copeland in 2008. The Lady Broncos went 8-15 on the 2008-09 season, losing to Norman in the first round of the Class 6A regional playoffs.
Clark said Foreman is working at a basketball camp this week but will take over the MHS girls job by the end of the week.
“I think he will try to round up as many of the girls as he can this week. He’ll be working for the next week or two with people inside and outside the district to figure out what we can do for a staff,” Clark said. “I think those are his two biggest concerns.”
Foreman said he planned to tell his Westmoore players about the position change on Tuesday, and he would begin calling Mustang’s players later in the day to schedule a team meeting for Thursday night.
Mustang’s legacy of success in girls basketball, including six state championships, the most recent in 2006, and a program coached by the likes of Bob Pigg and Copeland made the job intriguing, Foreman said.
“It’s the most tradition-rich girls basketball program on the western side of the state of Oklahoma. That’s what really got me interested and got me thinking about the position,” he said. “I look forward to continuing what they did. I know the expectations are high, but I like that challenge.”
Foreman was the head coach at Westmoore from 2000-2009, and he was the head boys basketball coach at Chickasha from 1998-2000. Before that he was the assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Arts and Science Oklahoma in Chickasha from 1997-1998, and he was the men’s basketball coach at Oklahoma Christian University from 1995-1997.
A 1990 MHS graduate, Foreman played college basketball at Barat College in Lake Forest, Ill., about 30 miles north of Chicago, and he served as the men’s assistant coach there for a season in 1994-1995.
Aside from coaching AAU teams, this will be Foreman’s first job coaching girls basketball.
“Basketball is basketball. It’s all about communication and relationships and how you deal with people. It’s not a concern of mine,” he said.
Foreman and his wife, Shannon, have two school-age daughters who play sports, and being closer and more involved with them made the job more attractive, he said.
“That was important to me,” he said. “I think it’s a better environment for raising two daughters, being around a girls locker room as opposed to a boys locker room.”
For more Mustang news and sports go to mustangpaper.com
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