Liberty Hill, Manor hire new basketball coaches
Like father, like son.
Two months after Barry Boren retired following two successful decades as Liberty Hill’s boys basketball coach, the school district has announced his son, Blake Boren, as the program’s new coach.
Blake Boren, a 2006 Liberty Hill graduate who played high school basketball for his father, has served as an assistant basketball coach and a math teacher in the district since 2011.
More:Liberty Hill boys basketball coach Barry Boren retires after nearly four decades on sideline
“To say that I am eager to carry on my father's legacy would be a vast understatement,” Blake Boren said in a statement released by the school district. “I'm very excited to start this new chapter with the district.”
Boren, who has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas, comes from a family of educators. His father won 809 games as a head basketball coach in a career that stretched over four decades, and his mother, Sue Ann Boren, recently retired as a first-grade teacher at Liberty Hill Elementary School. Blake Boren’s wife, Kristina Boren, also teaches at Liberty Hill High School as an AP English IV teacher. Together, they have two children, Asa, 2, and Abram, 5, who will begin his first year of kindergarten at Liberty Hill Elementary next month.
Barry Boren’s achievements at Liberty Hill can be measured by the numbers. He went 513-167 with 19 playoff appearances, 14 district titles, six regional tournaments and one state berth. More importantly, he shepherded a once small-school program into one that can compete with the top teams in Class 5A; this past season, Liberty Hill — which now has almost 2,000 students — won District 25-5A and reached the third round of the playoffs.
Blake Boren has been a big part of that success. Since he joined the staff, the Panthers have a 301-87 record, including a 33-4 mark this past season.
Northeast coach John A. Smith takes over Manor boys basketball program
After one successful season at Northeast High School in the Austin school district, boys basketball coach John A. Smith will take over the program at Manor.
Smith replaces Anthony Swain, who resigned in April to become the Manor school district’s full-time athletic director.
Smith says the potential of fast-growing Manor played a pivotal role in taking the job.
"It's bigger than basketball," he said from San Antonio, where he conducted a seminar Monday at the Texas High School Coaches Association on building and developing basketball programs. "The community, the growth, the development. ... this could be a Class 6A power for a long time, and it's such a fertile area for young basketball players."
Smith also acknowledged the demographic shifts that have driven a lot of families from East Austin into the suburbs over the past generation. Players that once suited up for LBJ for Northeast - previously known as Reagan High School - now attend schools on the edges of Austin, such as Manor.
"These are the same kids that used to play at LBJ or Northeast, but with more resources available from the community," Smith said. "When I first met with them, I saw a bunch of kids with that fire in their eyes."
More:Manor's Anthony Swain steps down as boys basketball coach, becomes full-time athletic director
A veteran coach with more than a decade’s worth of experience in the prep and collegiate ranks, Smith led Northeast to a 26-12 record and a spot in the second round of the playoffs in his first season as a varsity head coach. He’ll take over a Manor program that became a perennial playoff threat under Swain, who had a record of 100-43 in his five seasons leading the Mustangs. Manor has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, and the 2019 Manor boys team became the school’s first squad in any team sport to compete in a UIL state tournament.
This past year, Manor went 25-13 and reached the second round of the playoffs.
Austin Achieve names new football coach
Austin Achieve, a charter school in Northeast Austin that is a member of the University Interscholastic League, has promoted former defensive coordinator Joe DiMaio to its head football coach. DiMaio replaces Mackee Mason, who had previously served as both the school’s principal and head football coach. Mason has been promoted to the chief academic officer for Achieve's district, which also includes two elementary and middle schools. He will remain with the football program as an assistant.
Achieve went 2-8 last season and competed in District 14-4A Division II. The Polar Bears will compete in District 13-4A DII this upcoming season alongside Jarrell, Lago Vista, Geronimo Navarro, New Tech and Wimberley.
From 2016-19, Achieve competed as a 6-man football team in the Texas Association of Independent Athletic Organizations. The program joined the UIL prior to the 2020 season.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Liberty Hill, Manor hire new basketball coaches
