Hall removes interim tag, names Coleman head coach

— If there's anything Jon Coleman could've done to prove that he deserved to be the full-time head coach of Little Rock Hall, he did it in his one season as interim coach.

Taking over after the sudden retirement of former coach George Cirks, Coleman led the Warriors to the Class 7A state title, and with that, it was an easy decisions for Athletic Director Johnny Johnson to drop the interim tag and make Coleman the full-on lead man beginning next season.

After leading Little Rock Hall to the Class 7A state title as the interim head coach last season, Jon Coleman was introduced as the full-fledged head coach of the Warriors boys basketball program at a press conference at Cirks Arena on the campus of Hall High School on Tuesday afternoon. Coleman took over for long-time coach George Cirks, who retired prior to the beginning of last season.

Coleman gets interim tag dropped, takes over as head coach at Hall

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With all the chemistry Coleman already had with the players, Johnson called the promotion a "no-brainer."

"There wasn't a lot of people that were going to apply, because I think everybody felt , you know, this was coach Coleman's job. But I think the biggest thing he brings is continuity, that he's been here, he's familiar with the kids that are ninth, tenth, eleventh graders that are all getting ready to bump up [in class]."

A Marianna native, Coleman has spent the past 14 years at the school, including nearly a decade with the boys basketball program.

Even with the interim label during the season, Coleman said he never was worried about losing the players respect or trust.

"Before the ceremony, I had a meeting with the players," Coleman said. "I thanked hem for never asking any questions about the coaching situations or the coaching title. I knew they'd heard a lot of things about the interim coach and maybe the possibility of coach Coleman not being here next year. But never did they say a word. What they did was they came to practice everyday, they worked hard, and they played basketball."

It showed in their play, going 22-7 and finishing the regular season as a No. 3-seed heading into the state tournament, which ended with a

Coleman will have to replace some talent. Gone will be three players that have signed Division I letters of intent, including Nebraska signee and all-state selection David Rivers. Those graduating also includes three starters for the Warriors.

But the tradition of the program is what Coleman hopes to uphold, regardless of who suits up for him.

"Our goal each year is to win a conference championship, and to win a state championship and that will never change," he said. "Now to be realistic, I know we won't end up in [the state championship game] every year. But we will have a competitive basketball team that plays hard on the floor."

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