April 27, 2010
Former Rio assistant gets new gig
Rio Grande --- Rio Grande's loss is Jackson's gain. Former Rio Grande men's assistant basketball coach Heath McKinniss has accepted the head basketball coaching position at Jackson High School, replacing the legendary Larry Jordan.
McKinniss served two seasons as an assistant coach for the Rio Grande men's program. McKinniss has taught at Jackson Middle School since 2004. During that time he served as assistant varsity boys coach for Jackson High School in 2004-2005. He was varsity girls head coach at Jackson from 2005-2007. Prior to his stint at Jackson, McKinniss was assistant varsity boys coach at Gallia Academy from 2000-2004.
Heath graduated from Rio Grande in 2001 with a degree in Elementary Education. His wife, Melissa, graduated from Rio Grande in 2002. They have two children, a son, Garrett and a daughter, Carsen. Melissa teaches third grade in Wellston.
"It's something that I always wanted to do (be a head coach)," McKinniss said. "I'm pretty lucky to have this opportunity."
McKinniss seized the chance to become Jackson's head man when Coach Jordan resigned last month. "When Coach Jordan resigned, I applied for the job, went through the interview process and was hired by the (school) board on April 13," McKinniss said.
McKinniss valued his time at Rio Grande. "I was out of coaching for a year and I didn't know if any opportunities would be out there," he said. "Coach French contacted me and I was able to come on board. It was a very big deal to be on Rio's staff. To get the chance to learn at a higher level, I'm lucky to have had that."
"There are so many things that I can take (from the Rio job), so many things that I learned from Coach French," McKinniss added. "Anytime you're coaching, no matter what the program or level, you're going to gain from that and coaching at Rio Grande has helped prepare me for this opportunity."
Coach French and the Rio family are extremely happy for McKinniss and his opportunity. "We are very excited for Coach McKinniss to have been named the head boys' basketball coach at Jackson High School," French said. "He will do a tremendous job and they could not have found a better person to run their program."
"Coach McK has been a tremendous assistant for us here at the University of Rio Grande but it will be good for the game of basketball and the Jackson community to have him as their head coach," French added. "He is a man of strong character and values which anyone would be proud to have their son play for. He will do a great job building a program from top to bottom at JHS."
"I wish Coach McK and his family the best. We will miss them here but he will always be a part of our RIO family. The community of Jackson made a great decision with this hire."
McKinniss talked about the huge role he will taking on as a mentor for the young men of Jackson High School, a role that he embraces. "The biggest thing that Coach French emphasized in our program was being a good person, being a good student and being a good citizen," McKinniss said. "Those are all qualities that I want to pass on to the young men at Jackson High School."
With Jackson being only 20 miles from Rio Grande, McKinniss said that he will still keep in touch with the program and be around when he can. "I'll be around," he said. "My time at Rio Grande was quite an experience."
McKinniss has hit the ground running, he has met with his new team and open gyms and weight lifting are already underway to get the Ironmen prepared for next season. "There are a lot of young kids who are anxious to get better," he said. "Young kids who are eager to be a part of a successful program."
In order to do that, McKinniss will stress two key things to his team. "I always ask my teams to do two things: play hard and play together. If we do those two things, we'll give ourselves a chance to win a lot of games."
The Heath McKinniss era at Jackson will officially begin in June when the Ironmen participate in various team camps, shootouts and the Jackson High School summer league.
