O’Laughlin’s second retirement opens door for Parman to take over South Shelby boys basketball program

SHELBINA, Mo. — Kent O’Laughlin felt the time was right to ride off into the sunset — or to the farm or the next vacation spot — and it is for real this time.

“I’m hoping so,” O’Laughlin said.

His successor is poised to help the South Shelby boys basketball program pick up right where O’Laughlin left off.

O’Laughlin’s retirement following his second stint at South Shelby became public in March. At the April 9 School Board meeting, Carl Parman, O’Laughlin’s assistant for the last three seasons, was chosen to take the reins of the boys basketball team.

“I think he was comfortable handing the keys over to me,” Parman said. “That’s how the school saw it, and it worked out.”

O’Laughlin retired once before in 2016 from Marceline, but prior to the 2022-23 season, he returned to South Shelby — his alma mater and the place where he coached football and boys and girls basketball in the 1990s and 2000s — to coach boys basketball when previous coach Dalton Armontrout departed for Canton.

“The school had an opening and didn’t have a very good chance of hiring somebody from a teaching position because they just didn’t have positions open at that time, so they were needing somebody to step in who could help out for a few years to get them through that bind. That’s what I did,” O’Laughlin said.

Under his tutelage, the Cardinals won 16 or more games in all three seasons and won a district title in O’Laughlin’s first season back at the helm.

If there was any question as to whether O’Laughlin’s heart was still in it the second time around, Parman got his answer with a late-night text after the Cardinals’ Class 3 District 6 championship victory over Palmyra in 2023.

“I was up at 1:30 in the morning watching film, and I sent him a text thinking he would read it the next day. He texted me right back. He was up watching the same game I was,” Parman said. “Being that late in his career and still just getting after it all the time, that’s that passion.”

Parman hopes to replicate that same passion and care for the student-athletes in his elevated role.

“We’re going to continue to build off of what he started again,” Parman said. “Scheme-wise, we’re going to do a lot of the same things, but we’re going to have some wrinkles. I’m not him, but at the same time, you don’t mess with success. The last three years are three of the best consecutive years of South Shelby basketball.

“He was really good about creating those relationships with the kids but also not being afraid if somebody needed something called out to call it out. Sometimes as a young coach, you get to where you maybe want to be a friendlier coach. Sometimes you have to be the disciplinarian who sets the tone and lays down the law. Those are all things that he did a great job of, and I hope I can continue those things.”

O’Laughlin, who was not teaching at South Shelby at the time, said Parman was just as crucial to that success, which made him the right man for the job.

“It definitely was different doing it from an outside standpoint, not being around everybody every day,” O’Laughlin said. “Coach Parman was kind of my relay man getting messages to the kids or to different things that had to be put in a bulletin. It really helped me out. It was good for him to see how some of those things work so he could be ready to take over.

“He coaches a lot of the same things I do. He believes in doing things right, playing hard and trying to be a class act when you’re out there and carrying that off the floor and in the classroom and around town. He’ll do a good job with the program.”

Now it’s time for O’Laughlin to watch from the stands.

“I’m ready to go sit in the bleachers and do my thing there with my wife, and if something happens some night and I don’t feel like going, I won’t go,” O’Laughlin said. “It might just be a night to sit in the recliner.”

Outside of still supporting his former school, O’Laughlin will be tending to his cattle and large plots of land about two miles from his and his wife Kelly’s home on Shelbina Lake.

“Some of that’s going to be split up between my sisters and I someday, so I’m trying to maintain it because none of them are around,” O’Laughlin said. “They were kind of let go because I was busy doing other things. I’ve got to get a lot of fences fixed and a lot of brush cleaned up, all those types of things, but then also spend time with my wife and our kids and grandkids.”

While O’Laughlin put countless hours into his work coaching multiple sports and enjoyed it all the while, he welcomes the extra free time.

“It goes into the late evening lots of times, and you’re tied up with camps and all those types of things in the summer,” O’Laughlin said. “It’s going to be nice to just kind of spend some time doing what we want for a while.”

With more time on his hands, O’Laughlin and his wife will have the freedom to visit any of the vacation destinations they have on their bucket list.

“We have several different places we have bookmarked. We’ll just have to see which one we go to first,” he said. “We both really enjoy the mountains out in the western U.S., and we haven’t been clear up to the very northwest in Oregon and Washington to see lots of things up there. That will be one of the first ones. My wife loves the beach, so we may end up at one of those destinations not too far down the road, too.”

O’Laughlin also will reflect on 14 years of fond memories at South Shelby, including winning a 2006 Class 1 state championship as head football coach with his sons Aaron and Luke on the team.

“Having a couple sons on the team made it that much more special, but I have a lot of other good memories throughout the years that I’ll look back to, reflect on and remember those were some fun times,” he said.

Plenty more good times are on the horizon for O’Laughlin.

“It’s more sweet than bitter,” O’Laughlin said. “It was time.”

O’Laughlin knows he could not have done it alone, though.

“It’s been a blessing from the good Lord,” O’Laughlin said. “He gave me a successful career and a lot of good people to work with — athletes, parents, coaches, administrators, on down the list. I was blessed and had a very supportive wife throughout those years, so that made it even better.” 

O’Laughlin is leaving the boys basketball program in good hands.

“We’re ready to get to work,” Parman said.