By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Dwayne Paul wasn't looking to leave the Hayden High boys basketball program, but when a job at a high-profile Class 6A school in a premier 6A league opened up, Paul said it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Dwayne Paul has stepped down as Hayden's boys basketball coach after two seasons to take take over at Lawrence Free State. [File photo/TSN]
Paul confirmed Monday that he is stepping down at Hayden after two seasons to take the head coaching position at Lawrence Free State, where he will replace former Kansas star Sherron Collins, who resigned after one season.
"It was one of those things where the job actually fell in my lap, I didn't go out pursuing it,'' Paul told TopSports.news. "I had someone reach out to me that was a friend of a friend, saying (Free State) was open and available and thought I would be good for it. That, then in turn, piqued my interest to go and look at it.
"I did some praying and soul-searching, and I talked to my wife about it, and kind of went from there. It wasn't like I was scrolling through all the openings in the state because I could have been at Hayden my entire career and been just fine and had success.''
Paul met with his Hayden players and Wildcat parents Monday afternoon to inform them of his decision and said he expects the school to continue to have success in the Centennial League and 4A.
"I know that we lost some top-heavy talent, but we had talent retuning again for next season so I truly feel in my heart that with some of the pieces the Centennial was losing and some of the pieces that we were bringing back that we would be right back in the thick of things when it was all said and done and we'd give ourselves an opportunity to make some noise in the playoffs,'' Paul said.
"But when you have an opportunity like Free State, a job like that with that kind of history and tradition and expectations to win, it's very similar to Hayden if I'm being honest with you. It's just at a 6A level with a lot of resources, so it was hard to pass up that opportunity.''
Hayden posted a fourth-place finish in the Class 4A state tournament in Paul's first season at the school in 2022 and the Wildcats played in a sub-state final this past season, losing to Atchison, 46-43. Paul posted a 21-26 record at Hayden.
Paul took the Hayden job after a successful run at Class 1A Division I Lebo, where he led the Wolves to a pair of state tournament appearances.
Before going to Lebo, Paul served as an assistant to Shaun Vandiver at NCAA Division II Emporia State from 2013-18 after previously serving as a full-time assistant at Henderson State. He also spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Wyoming.
Paul takes over a Free State program that posted an 11-10 record last season under Collins.
Jeff Skar has stepped down as Topeka West's girls basketball coach after three seasons. The Chargers posted a 6-15 record in 2022-2023. [File photo/TSN]
SKAR STEPS DOWN AT TOPEKA WEST
Jeff Skar recently resigned his position as head girls basketball coach at Topeka West after three seasons.
Skar was a former Charger assistant before taking over the head coaching position prior to the 2020-2021 season.
The Chargers are coming off their most successful season under Skar in 2022-2023, with Topeka West posting a 6-15 record in its first season in the United Kansas Conference.
Topeka West ended its season with a Class 5A sub-state semiinal loss to Andover, which went on to post a fourth-place finish in the 5A state tournament.
West's six wins last season maked the Chargers' highest win total in more than 15 seasons.
