From KSHSAA
Brian Ebert, the girl’s basketball coach at Frankfort High School, has been named the National Coach of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association. Ebert becomes the 40th Kansan to earn the honor at the national level. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has also announced 12 other Kansas coaches to Section 5 award winners. These efforts recognize the outstanding accomplishments during the 2023-24 school year.
Recognizing Coach Ebert for his team’s performance for the 2023-2024 season. Last March, Frankfort won the program’s first ever 1A-D1 state championship. As the 6-seed at state, the Wildcats upset top-seed Little River 47-41. Frankfort won 23 games last season.
The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, the spirit category and two “other” categories.
NFHS National Coach of the Year (2023-24):
Girls Basketball – Brian Ebert (Frankfort HS)
NFHS Sectional Coaches of the Year (2023-24):
Boys Golf = Grady Pauls (Hesston HS)
Girls Soccer = Dan Brown (OP-St. Thomas Aquinas HS)
Boys Soccer = Keeley O’Grady (Olathe East HS)
Girls Gymnastics = Amanda Harrington (Olathe High Schools)
11-Player Football = Shelby Wehrman (Cheney HS)
Spirit = Alexis Bugler Close (Shawnee Mission East HS)
Boys Wrestling = Chris Saferite (Rose Hill HS)
Boys Swim and Dive = Kamren Hall (Wichita-Collegiate HS)
Girls Cross Country = Lyles Lashley (Great Bend HS)
Girls Tennis = Mary Kessinger-Wassom (Marysville HS)
Girls Basketball = Brian Ebert (Frankfort HS)
Boys Tennis = Matt Babcock (Buhler HS)
Girls Swim and Dive = Madeline Cathleen Martin (Fort Scott HS)
State Coaches of the Year (2023-24):
11 Player Football – Shelby Wehrman (Cheney High School)
8 Player Football – Michael Massey (Lyndon High School)
6 Player Football – Chris Walden (Bird City-Cheylin High School)
Baseball – Bill Arnold (Topeka-Hayden High School)
Bowling – Brian Adelgren (Goddard-Eisenhower High School)
Boys Basketball – Rick O’Neil (Wellsville High School)
Boys Cross Country – Matt DeWerff (Holcomb High School)
Boys Golf – Grady Pauls (Hesston High School)
Boys Middle School – Todd Bolt (Norton Junior High School)
Boys Soccer – Keeley O’Grady (Olathe East High School)
Boys Swimming – Kamren Hall (Wichita-Collegiate High School)
Boys Tennis – Matt Babcock (Buhler High School)
Boys Track and Field – Jayson Tynon (Axtell High School)
Boys Wrestling – Chris Saferite (Rose Hill High School)
Girls Basketball – Brian Ebert (Frankfort High School)
Girls Cross Country – Lyles Lashley (Great Bend High School)
Girls Golf – Kelby Brown (Silver Lake High School)
Girls Middle School – Tom Haynes (Salina South Middle School)
Girls Soccer – Dan Brown (St. Thomas Aquinas High School)
Girls Swimming – Madeline Martin (Fort Scott High School)
Girls Tennis – Mary Kessinger-Wassom (Marysville High School)
Girls Track – Tommy Tryon (Washington County High School)
Girls Wrestling – Jay Johnston (Basehor-Linwood High School)
Gymnastics – Amanda Harrington (Olathe High School)
Softball – Jay Monhollon (Topeka-Seaman High School)
Volleyball – Tatiana Dowling (Topeka-Seaman High School)
Cheer – Pam Burkett (Wichita-Haysville Campus)
Dance – Alexis Bugler Close (Shawnee Mission East)
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in one “other” sport that is not included in the top 10 listings. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.
