CLEVELAND — Longtime East Hall girls and boys basketball assistant Jarvis Davenport felt it was just time.
Davenport was approved Thursday night by the White County School Board to become the next girls varsity basketball coach. He takes over for Tyler Whitlock, who resigned recently after two seasons.
Synonimous with East Hall basketball as a player in the 1990s and then becoming an assistant for the Lady Vikings starting in 1998, Davenport said it was a tough decision for him and his family.
"I hadn't looked at other jobs in the past. I've been very happy at East Hall," Davenport said Friday. "But I used to live in White County and I still know a lot of people up there so I just felt this was a good opportunity for me to look into. I'm real excited about getting this opportunity. I can't wait to get started."
Davenport began his coaching career with the Lady Vikings in 1998 and remained with Allen Pritchett until 2003 when he joined the East Hall boys staff under then-coach Seth Vining and Joe Dix, who took over for Vining in 2004.
He has learned from some of the best as all three coaches won state titles at East Hall.
"I learned a lot from all of them. It was a very tough decision for me to leave East Hall," he said.
Davenport said he plans to meet the team for the first time next week.
"I don't really know a whole lot about who is there and who is coming up but we'll get started after the school year and try to get things built back up," he said.
The Lady Warriors are coming off a 6-18 campaign in 2015-16. They have not made the playoffs since the 2012-13 season when they lost to eventual state champion St. Pius in the first round.
In other White County news, the Board also approved the hiring of Alan Griffin as White County athletic director.
(AccessWDUN's Rob Moore contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/4/391015/basketball-east-hall-assistant-davenport-hired-to-lead-white-county-girls