Southers returns to head coaching position as he is tasked to lead Palmyra girls basketball program

PALMYRA, Mo. — Timothy Southers’ interest in watching the Palmyra girls basketball team develop was piqued from the start.

“Being on the front line of watching of them this year, watching how they competed this year was very intriguing,” Southers said. “I remember the very first time I saw them play after (Palmyra boys basketball coach Brian Rea) was telling me these girls can go. I’m thinking to myself, ‘I’m sure they can, but why is he telling me that.’

“He knows my affinity and my love for girls basketball. And he was 100 percent correct. They have players who can flat out play.”

So when Alex Brandenburg resigned as the girls basketball coach last month, Southers’ interest in guiding his own program once again was piqued.

“It was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is an opportunity I’d like to at least look at,’” Southers said.

This week, the Palmyra school board made his hiring official. Southers will teach social studies at the high school and take over as the head girls basketball coach, inheriting a youthful squad with a depth of talent.

Southers spent last winter as an assistant coach with the Palmyra boys program after serving as one of Rea’s assistants at Payson Seymour the previous four seasons.

Prior to that, Southers served as the head girls basketball coach at Payson for three seasons, going from a 2-18 record his first season to an 11-15 mark his last. Southers also spent a year and a half coaching the Culver-Stockton College women’s basketball team.

“Being an assistant coach is a special thing you get the opportunity to do,” Southers said. “But there’s also nothing like being a head coach either. The opportunity to lead a team and provide a vision that moves a program forward and have the opportunity to do some great things, that’s always a great opportunity.

“I enjoyed being an assistant coach, but being a head coach again is something special.”

Because of his close-knit relationship with Rea, Southers plans to continue to help the boys program in any way he can.

“It’s a brotherhood we’ve had from the first time we’ve met,” Rea said.