Shepherd begins new chapter at West Delaware

MANCHESTER -- Old face, new place.

After three years of serving as an assistant basketball coach, Harold Shepherd is back in charge.

"I didn't mind being an assistant, but I thought that if I was going to return to coaching at the high school (girls') level, I'd might as well do it my way," said Shepherd, 68, who will make his West Delaware debut Tuesday when the Hawks host Williamsburg.

Shepherd's way has worked pretty well through the years. In 43 seasons at Elk Horn-Kimballton, Vinton, Vinton-Shellsburg and Jesup, he fashioned a 722-275 record with two state championships (six-player at Vinton in 1984, Class 3A at Vinton-Shellsburg in 1995). He ranks fifth on the state all-time win chart.

Now he tries to turn around a program that has languished near the bottom of the Wamac Conference for three years.

"So far, so good," said senior Jenna Hermsen. "We're not changing everything, but he's teaching us a different way to play basketball."

Shepherd is one high-profile coach to join the Wamac this season. Brian O'Donnell is another.

O'Donnell, who coached Springville to the Class 1A championship in 2008, takes over at Marion. Former Indians Coach Sherryl Gaffney-Paige resigned last year after leading the team to the state tournament.

"It seemed like a great opportunity to do this," said O'Donnell, who still teaches high school social studies at Springville. "I loved my years coaching there, but this is a challenge to see what I can do in a higher class."

The Indians open Tuesday at Dyersville Beckman.

During Shepherd's reign, Vinton and Vinton-Shellsburg ruled the Wamac. His teams won 19 league championships and never finished lower than second from 1981 through his resignation in 2005.

He coached at Jesup for two years, then served as an assistant for former player Jill Cress at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., for two.

Last year, he returned to Iowa and assisted Tony Pappas at Waterloo West.

As an assistant, Shepherd said, "I learned that I still had a lot to learn. There are a lot of different choices you can make, a lot of ways you can do things."

Since he left Vinton-Shellsburg, the Wamac Conference has expanded to 16 schools. The East Division, where West Delaware resides, also is the home of DeWitt Central and Mount Vernon, which are ranked second and third in The Gazette's preseason 3A state rankings.

"We could have a really successful season and finish fourth or fifth in our division," he said.

Shepherd still resides in Vinton. His home and his new workplace are 49 miles apart.

The Hawks do not play Vinton-Shellsburg this season.

In his short time with his new team, he has found that "they are great kids, hard-working kids with a great work ethic. This will be a team that will come at you and come at you hard. We'll try to score some points with our defense."

The way Hermsen talks, the Hawks aren't getting a crusty, old, outdated coach.

"He cracks jokes all the time. He's a lot of fun to get to know," she said. "I think it's going to work out well."

Shepherd said that "other than a cold," he's in very good health and intends to stick around awhile.

"I'll stay until I decide it's over," he said. "I don't know how long that will be. A lot will depend on what the folks at West Delaware want."