Local history was made Thursday when Lonnie Mason was introduced as the 11^th head boys basketball coach in Logan County High School history. His hiring marks a couple of milestones. The 1994 LCHS graduate is the first alumnus of the 30-year-old school to become head basketball coach at his alma mater.

He also is the first African-American to be a head boys basketball coach, not only at LCHS but also in the entire history of the Logan County School system, which encompasses most of a century.

Many family members were present at the formal announcement in the Commons Area. Coach Mason is the son of Bennie Margaret Mason and the late James Washington. Many of the great athletes from South Logan are either Washingtons or Masons. The new Cougar coach has both blood lines flowing through his veins.

Among those attending were his wife, Shatoya Bailey Mason, and their daughter, Lady Cougar freshman Taleia Mason, his mom, his mother-in-law, Ethel Beard, his brother, Marcus Washington (who was a member of the Warren Central team which beat Logan in the 1987 regional finals), his great-uncle, long-time LCHS employee William Washington, and other relatives Danny and Cedric Finch, Lavar Mason and Kayleigh Williams.

Shown in the photo, from left, are Marcus Washington, Taleia Mason, Coach Lonnie Mason, Shatoya Mason and Casey Jaynes; back row, Hugh McReynolds, Danny Finch, Ethel Beard, Bennie Margaret Mason and Kayleigh Williams.

Lonnie Mason was a three-sport athlete at LCHS. He's best known as a key member of Coach Dick Webb's 1993 regional finalist basketball team. In college he ran track for Coach Curtiss Long at Western Kentucky University for four years. He graduated from WKU in 1999.

The last 12 years he has worked for Ventra Plastics in Russellville. He said Ventra has made it possible for him to be an assistant coach at LCHS the past six years (under coaches Jeff Rogers, Brandon Fisher and Harold Tackett) and will continue doing so. He said he is open, however, to going back to college to become a certified teacher.

In addition to being a Cougar assistant in both basketball and football. Mason has helped coach the Kentucky Blast girls AAU team, which recently won the Classic Division of a national tournament for eighth graders at the Disney/ESPN center in Orlando, Fla. His daughter Taleia was a member of this team. Last year the Masons were part of the national champion AAU 12-and-under team.

Members of the search committee were Principal Casey Jaynes, Assistant Principal Mike Hoots (who has coached three sports at LCHS), Athletic Director Hugh McReynolds, girls basketball head coach Scot MacAllister, Superintendent Marshall Kemp, long-time basketball support volunteer Holli Brown, and parent Danette Wright.

The principal said over 30 people applied for the head basketball coaching position, from various levels of experience and six different states. They ranged from assistant NCAA Division 1 coaches to current middle school coaches.

“We approached this like we would any other position in the county with applicants having to go through our Central Office personnel screening process. If the applicant did not pass the screening process, they were not considered for the review process by the committee, “Jaynes said. “This process brought us down to 17 qualified applicants. The committee was provided with the information that they sent to us, along with their teacher application and resume. From this list, the committee chose six potential candidates to interview. After interviews were conducted, the committee came to an agreement on three candidates, who were brought back for a second interview where more detailed questions were asked about their coaching styles and philosophies with student-athletes.

“The committee listed the following qualities that they thought were important for the next coach of LCHS: Consistency, discipline, perspective and balance, challenging and fun, flexibility in coaching styles, accessibility, patience and maturity and communication. I personally contacted references for the final three candidates.”

The team which Coach Mason inherits is short on experience. Senior point guard Torin Graham is the only returning starter from the Cougars' squad which made it to the regional tournament for the first time in 14 years. Juniors Landon Stratton and Clint Knight and sophomore Ben Wright have the next most experience.

“I didn't know if I would get this job or not,” Mason said after the ceremony. “There were some good coaches who applied. I wasn't sure I was prepared for being head coach until I was in charge of the team this summer. We worked well together. I found out I can do this. We'll work hard and we'll work together to succeed.”

Mason becomes the fifth LCHS graduate to be named head coach of a sport at the school. Former coaches were Lee Proctor in football and Tina Baker Lynch in volleyball. Ethan Meguiar continues as baseball coach and Steven Lyne as volleyball coach; both have been very successful.

Facebook has been alive with congratulatory and complimentary remarks about the new coach and about Logan County's decision to hire him.