Former Chaffee coach Darrin Pruitt to take over Kelly girls basketball team

BENTON, Mo. -- Family roots grow deep for Darrin Pruitt's family in Scott County.

His father was from Oran. His mother graduated from Kelly. And Pruitt recently spent five seasons coaching the Chaffee girls basketball team before stepping away for a year.

Naturally, Pruitt jumped at the chance to work for another Scott-Mississippi Conference program.

Pruitt recently accepted the vacant girls head coaching position at Kelly High School after the resignation of former coach Rod McQuerter in early March.

"For me, it is a great opportunity to take over a program at the school where my mother graduated from and build upon the history of Kelly girls basketball as a Class 3 competitor," Pruitt said.

It's been nearly two decades since the Lady Hawks have seen a new face at the head of their program. For 19 seasons, McQuerter led Kelly to four district titles and became the school's winningest coach with a 317-144 record.

Pruitt has no plans of reinventing the coaching wheel at one of the more successful girls programs in the area. He'll bring his own wrinkles, but for the most part hopes to continue to build where McQuerter, a coach he admired, left Kelly's program: a consistent winner and district title contender.

"I watched Coach Rod for many years and respected his coaching abilities," Pruitt said. "Many of the things I learned I initially took with me to Chaffee and used. One 'Rodism' that comes to mind I used on my teams and with family is that "communication eliminates confusion." A simple saying but so very true in all aspects of life. I can't really say what I intend to do the same or different right now. I am hoping to get to know my players in the off season and from there I can build a season that suits the talent we have... It really comes back to the players and what they bring to the team as far as skills, attitude, willingness to learn and whether they push harder to become the best version of themselves."

The last time Pruitt led a program, he took them to a place rarely seen.

During the 2014-15 season at Chaffee, Pruitt helped the Lady Devils to a 22-6 record and their first district championship since 1978. It was the reward that he and his players worked toward during four previous years of building a winning team at a school that hadn't seen much of that before.

He's hoping to bring the same hard-work mentality that he established at Chaffee to Kelly.

"I worked tirelessly alongside my assistant coach to build the Chaffee tradition," Pruitt said. "... I believe that player developmental abilities to become proficient and confident are directly related to the time they put in to achieve their goal. I think that success is built upon what the players and coach bring into any program. As a coach, you can work to teach players how to be successful and learn to win. As a player you must be willing to put in the time and off season work to improve. As a team we have to step out of our comfort zones and, work hard to achieve our goals. As we build on our goals and the work gets hard, we have to stay focused on the goals we chose and remember how hard the previous Lady Hawks teams worked to gain the reputation... At Kelly, they have had a history of successful girl's teams and I will do the same as I did previously. I will offer opportunities. It is up to them to take them."

The 2015-16 season was Pruitt's last at Chaffee. During that final year, he learned that his mother had some health issues and his father in law was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He decided to step away from the court shortly after.

Since then, Pruitt has worked for the juvenile office in Cape County while traveling to and from Springfield, Mo., for visits with his family.

"In a small way, it was a blessing that I had a year away," he said. "I was offered a position at the juvenile office that was flexible enough to allow us the ability to travel almost every weekend to Springfield to visit with my father in law before he passed."

For someone who has spent 19 years as a coach in some capacity, Pruitt, who also was a substitute teacher at Kelly last year, searched for a way to get back on the bench and into the sport he and his family loves.

McQuerter's resignation opened that door.

"All my kids have grown up court side, so I have been able to increase my knowledge in a sport I love and experience it with my children as they grew up," said Pruitt. "I care about my players, teams and their development...Seeing a player (and team) who truly want to become better, achieve success, and develop leadership skills is such a reward. I know that these same skills will benefit them their entire life."

Pruitt had the chance to work for Kelly once before. He applied for a boys assistant position in 2011 and hoped to send his daughter, Jordan Pruitt, to Kelly to play under McQuerter during her high school career. Chaffee offered Pruitt the head girls position that same year and the rest is history.

He led the Lady Devils to an improbable district title and got the opportunity to coach his youngest daughter, who scored 1,000 career points and was Chaffee's leading scorer during the same season.

"Chaffee just happened to offer me a position for girls basketball and I took it. I'm not unhappy it worked out this way," Pruitt said. "I met some wonderful friends and parents at Chaffee and coached some amazing players, including my daughter."

He hasn't had much time with his new players on the court, but Pruitt has had opportunities to meet and learn more about the Lady Hawks off of it. He's looking forward to getting back on the court and giving Kelly the chance at reaching their first district title since 2007.

"I have met some amazing young ladies so far while talking to them about summer opportunities," Pruitt said. "I have asked them their individual and team goals and they have set them high. They know my expectations and if we get into the gym and seek the opportunities available to them, we can build upon any success they've had individually and as a team.

"I am very passionate about helping anyone who is willing and wanting to develop their skills to become a better athlete. I will offer opportunities for them to take advantage of although a big part of our future success will rest upon our commitment to team development, practicing, and time spent on individual skill development."