Longtime Mead boys basketball coach Glenn Williams announces retirement

Jun. 24—Glenn Williams, the boys basketball coach at Mead for the past 22 seasons, announced his retirement on Thursday.

Among his many other accolades, Williams guided the 2002-03 Panthers to an undefeated regular season with league, district and regional championships.

That season culminated with a trip to the State 4A title game, where his team — led by future Gonzaga star and NBA first-round pick Adam Morrison — fell to Franklin and fellow future NBA player Aaron Brooks.

Williams began his coaching and teaching career in 1982 at Lewis and Clark and was promoted to head basketball coach in 1987. In 1996, he led the Tigers to the state tourney for the first time in 33 years, falling to eventual champion Sehome.

In 1998, Williams was hired to teach and coach basketball at Mead and in 2002 the Panthers advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 1988-89. That team was led in scoring by future Gonzaga star Jeff Brown.

Williams' Panthers returned to the state tournament in 2010 and finished fifth. His 2015 squad was a district champion and was the Greater Spokane League's No. 1 seed to regional play.

New Mead football coach

Mead also announced several new coaching hires on Thursday.

Keith Stamps was named head football coach replacing Benji Sonnichsen, who was not retained at the end of the spring season. Stamps returns to his alma mater after 17 seasons leading the Deer Park program.

Stamps played fullback and linebacker at Mead before a walk-on opportunity at Idaho turned into a scholarship at kicker.

He was as assistant at Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep before taking the Deer Park job in 2004.

James Lehr was hired as boys track and field coach, replacing the recently retired John Mires. Lehr had been an assistant in the Mead girls program for several seasons.

Casey Curtis was introduced as the girls soccer coach, taking over for longtime head coach Kevin Houston. Curtis was previously the head coach for boys and girls at Lewis and Clark.

Lakeland coaching updates

The Hawks also made a raft of changes at the end of the school year.

Tony Hanna, former boys basketball coach at Coeur d'Alene and Timberlake, replaces Dave Stockwell, who resigned after 10 seasons. Hanna was with the Vikings for four seasons, going 43-45, and went 57-60 in five seasons with Timberlake.

Wrestling coach Rob Edelblute stepped down after 22 seasons with the Hawks, as has softball coach Colleen Bevacqua after 17 seasons.

Edelblute wrestled on Lakeland's two state title teams in 1988 and '89 and coached state runners-up teams in 2016 and '18. Bevacqua took the Hawks to state nine times, including a runner-up finish in 2013.

Longtime golf and girls soccer coach Mario Maddy also resigned. Maddy was Lakeland's first girls soccer coach and coached 24 seasons, including a second-place state trophy in 2005. Assistant Rick Anderson was named golf coach and Kevin Rogge was hired for girls soccer.

Tennis coach Tyler Jacobs also resigned after five seasons.