McAlester hires Mike Dooney to lead Buffs basketball

May 8—The Buffs will have a new face on the court next season.

McAlester Public Schools announced the hire of Mike Dooney to helm the boys basketball program after the move was approved at the monthly MPS Board of Education meeting on Monday.

Dooney said he was excited about the opportunity to become a Buffalo, and was already somewhat familiar with the program thanks to his coaching past.

"As a family, we knew what McAlester was all about — we were in conference with them a few years ago when I coached at Idabel," he said. "I always looked at that job and said that's a good job because their fans support, seems like great community support, and they always have good athletes that come through there."

Dooney graduated from Calera High School before earning his college degree at Southeastern Oklahoma State College. His first job out of college was in western Oklahoma at Navajo before returning to Bryan County as an assistant at Rock Creek.

He followed that as an assistant with Southeastern's women's team before returning to high school coaching with Idabel. After several more stops that included Broken Arrow, Dooney made his return once more to Rock Creek where he has been the last few seasons.

He and his wife have three children who will be entering their junior, sophomore, and freshman years of high school, respectively.

Dooney describes himself as a "transformational coach," saying it's just as much about off-the-court relationships that are formed.

"I like to call myself a transformational coach, not a transactional coach," Dooney said. "The difference is I want to make a difference in kids' lives, not just use them as athletes.

"I want to be there for them when they're 30 and they want me to come back to their weddings, or be there when they've got questions later on in life," he explained. "I want to be more of a mentor for them. A long-lasting relationship, not just somebody that's going to be there while they're in high school."

Dooney said he's already dove into film on the Buffs and has been doing his homework. He'll look to meet his new squad as soon as possible, and together they'll dive headfirst into building their way to the upcoming season.

"We're going to get right into our summer program stuff, get into the weight room and start lifting," he said. "We're going to go to a couple camps this summer and basically hit the ground running."

And while the checklist of things to get done is long, Dooney is eager to get started as he and his family begin their new journey with the black and gold.

"I'm just excited about coming (to McAlester)," he said. "I'm excited to see what we can do with this program, and hopefully everybody is as excited to have me there as I am to be with them."