Scott Furey approved as new KHS (West Virginia) boys’ basketball coach

KEYSER, W.Va. (WV News) — While in Charleston Tuesday with Keyser High School’s state track qualifiers, Keyser boys’ track coach Scott Furey got some welcome news. Just voted on by the Mineral County Board of Education, Furey has been officially approved and named the new Keyser boys’ basketball coach.

Furey is no stranger to Keyser High School, no stranger to coaching, and even more particularly, no stranger to coaching basketball in particular, even at KHS, but more about that later.

“I’m just excited,” Furey expressed over the phone while standing in a hotel hallway from the capitol city. “I’m really happy that it came through and I get a chance to do it. There’s lots of emotions, but it’s just more excitement than anything. I’m excited to put my twist on things, and hopefully, my goal at least, will be to get us down to Charleston.”

Furey, and his family at large, have a passion for basketball. It’s a passion that has its roots with his late father, and shines through not only with Scott but also his sister Erin McKenzie, an assistant girls’ basketball coach at Frankfort.

“Well, my love for the sport, it originated with my late father, he loved basketball, and was very good at it when he played at Keyser. So, that was our connection, our way of doing a lot of things together and bonding coming up through,” Scott detailed.

“My sister Erin, she developed a love for it as well. She had a wonderful playing career, both in high school at Frankfort and in college. It’s just been a big part of our family, and I’ve always just gravitated to it and love coaching it,” Furey explained.

He has experience coaching it, both in the lower levels but also at Keyser High School. This is by no means his first go-around, just his first as the head varsity boys’ coach.

According to Scott, “Right out of college, I was hired to be the JV boys basketball coach for Ed Jordan. After two years, when Terry LaRue retired as the girls varsity coach, the girls job opened up. I wanted to be the boys head coach at some time, and thought that taking the girls job would enable me to gain head coaching experience at the varsity level. I had the girls position for seven years.

“Then I wanted to get back to the boys side of things. When the head varsity boys’ job became open, Coach Gary Liston, who had been my assistant and had a great resume, got the job, and I became his assistant, and the JV coach. In time, I transitioned to the lower levels, where I was able to coach my son up through, so that was a blessing,” Scott explained.

When the boys’ varsity job came open, Furey was excited about the potential for getting a position he has desired. But, there were a few things to consider first before formally applying.

“Well, obviously I’m going through the whole cancer thing, so, I first talked to my wife. They should write songs about her; we’ve been together since 1995 and I have been coaching three sports for the most part the entire time, football, basketball, and track, all year long. There’s just something so selfless about her. She is willing to share my time and I can’t thank her enough. So, I just wanted to make sure she was okay with it.”

According to Scott, “You know, because we are now looking at commitment November straight through to May, because I’m keeping the track job. That was my biggest thing, making sure she was okay with it.

“Then, with the cancer, so long as everything goes well, with treatments and surgery, we’re going to be going through August. So that was her biggest thing, just making sure I was going to be okay to coach both. There was a great deal of excitement, but also a little worry there.”

Now, Furey can look to putting his own twist on things with respect to the basketball program. He has general coaching philosophies, and those that apply specifically to basketball.

“The big thing is just getting five people to be on the same page at the same time. Then, when you put someone else in, getting them to be on the same page,” Furey stated. “Building chemistry is a big thing with basketball.”

According to Furey, “You hear family all the time, and sometimes that’s an overused expression, but, in basketball, you need to embrace that philosophy. For those four or five months, because it’s a long grind, you have to be a family.”

It’s a great opportunity, and also a great challenge.

“I’m very familiar with the program, and I know that Coach Haines didn’t leave the cupboard bare by any stretch. I know we have a lot of athletes, a lot of them are down here in Charleston with me right now. So, we have athletes, but at the same time, we’re going to look to develop them into basketball players as well,” Furey detailed.

According to Furey, “Our size schools, we have to share athletes. As much as we want everybody to buy in, it’s largely unrealistic, even though we’re going to ask for that. But, I have to share with Coach Rohrbaugh, I’ve got to share with Coach Stephen and all the other coaches from all the other sports.”

The bottom line?

“We have to let the kids be kids, but what I am going to do, and make sure everyone understands it, is explain to them that I can’t evaluate you if you’re not here.”

Scott Furey has a proven track record of success, with two state championship as a track coach. He also has valuable coaching experience in other sports, and directly with basketball. Scott Furey is a winner, not just on the track or on the court, but in life. He’ll hit the ground running and look to do big things with KHS basketball.