Liberty tabs Sparrow to take over reins of boys basketball program

LIBERTY, Ill. — Dan Sparrow first had to address the situation as an athletic director before he could look at it as an interested party.

Greg Altmix resigned as the Liberty boys basketball coach in mid-May, forcing the Liberty administration to act with a certain degree of haste in finding his replacement in order to ensure the Eagles had places to play this summer.

It was Sparrow’s responsibility as athletic director to explain that to the school board.

“We kind of discussed and it said here is the situation,” Sparrow said. “I always wanted to be open and transparent with the board moving forward. There were a lot of people who contacted me and said, ‘Are you interested in the position?’ I kind of had to have two hats on.

“One was as athletic director and the other was as somebody with interest in the position. Getting the kids involved in open gyms and summer schedules had to get done. So there was a need to move quickly. If we would have waited and tried to continue to search and went with outside candidates, it would have been the middle of June before we had somebody named.”

With an experienced candidate with an established relationship with the players already in the building, there was no need to drag it out.

Wednesday night, the Liberty school board approved hiring Sparrow as the next boys basketball coach. He will continue in his roles as athletic director and dean of students, while taking on the full-time coaching position.

It won’t be drastically different from last winter when he coached the junior high boys basketball program and served as a varsity assistant.

“I knew I always wanted to get back into coaching,” Sparrow said. “I took time off to watch my kids grow up and play, but the passion has always been athletics and coaching.”

Sparrow, a 1989 graduate of Quincy High School and 1993 graduate of Millikin University, had veered from coaching into administration and assumed he’d get back into coaching once he retired from education. It just happened to take place a few years earlier than expected.

“With the timing of everything, it just seemed like the right fit,” Sparrow said.

It might be the perfect fit.

The Eagles went 10-18 last winter, but they return a talented group of sophomores featuring Vince Cramsey, Tate Huber and Sparrow’s son, Reed, as well as Sparrow’s older son, Jack, who will be a senior. Sparrow has coached this group of sophomores on the AAU circuit for the past six years.

Sparrow also coached on Altmix’s staff at Liberty during the 2015-16 season in which the Eagles finished third in the Class 1A state tournament. It adds to his familiarity with the program and the community.

“It should be a smooth transition,” Sparrow said.

Sparrow began his coaching career as an assistant for both the QHS football and boys basketball programs. He left in 1998 to become the head boys basketball coach at Jacksonville, where he spent eight seasons record with a Class AA regional title in 2000.

The Crimsons have not won a regional title since.

Sparrow spent five seasons coaching at Bartonville Limestone, bringing the Rockets to play in the QHS Thanksgiving Tournament in 2008 and 2009. He left Limestone to become the principal at Quincy Junior High School, a position he held for 10 years before moving to Liberty.

“We are excited to have Dan in this role as he continues to support and build relationships with the young men in the Liberty basketball program,” Liberty Superintendent Kelle Bunch said in a press release. “It is always a win when the talent and leadership is right in your own backyard.”