Hart Steps Down As Cameron Head Coach
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CAMERON- The most successful coach in 103 years of boys basketball at Cameron High School has decided to step down as head coach.
Tom Hart, who guided the Dragons for the past 8 seasons, said the 2023-2024 is his last at Cameron.
"After 30 years of coaching, it's time," Hart said. "Do I still love my players? Absolutely. Will I miss them? Absolutely. Do I still love the game? Absolutely. However, when you know it's time, it's time. It's a full-time, year round commitment; not just November to March or for a few days in June.
"I expect each of those young men to give me 100 percent, however, in return, they deserve 100 percent from me, and if I don't believe I can give them what they deserve, you have to step away."
During his eight seasons at the helm of the Dragons, Hart's teams compiled a record of 128 wins against just 64 losses; never having a losing season while averaging 16 wins a season during that span.
In the 2022-2023 season, while also collecting his 100th coaching win, Hart passed former head coach and current Nova Southeastern Head Coach Jim Crutchfield in wins at Cameron.
During Hart's tenure, the Dragons advanced to the regional finals on seven occasions, winning their only regional championships in school history for four consecutive seasons and advancing to the state tournament in Charleston: 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Cameron boys also captured their only two OVAC Class A titles in school history in 2022 and 2024 while advancing to the OVAC championship game on five occasions during Hart's reign.
The Dragons also finished ranked in the Class A AP Top 10 in six of the past 7 seasons, finishing this past season ranked No. 6. In 2022, they finished ranked third.
They also own three sectional titles and three Mason-Dixon Conference championships under Hart who also coached in the OVAC All-Star game on four occasions, going 4-0 with the West Virginia teams.
He was named Mason-Dixon Conference Coach of the Year on four occasions, including just this past season.
Hart's 2023-2024 team finished with a sparkling 20-6 record, falling to East Hardy in the state quarterfinals.
It marked only the second 20 win season for the boys program in school history, matching the 1962-1963 team. His 2017-2018 team won 19 games (19-6 record); his 2021-2022 team won 18 games (18-7 record) and the 2018-2019 team won 17 games (17-7 record).
The Dragons didn't back away from competition over the last eight seasons, facing the likes of Linsly, Wheeling Central, Bellaire, Brooke, Weir, Harrison Central, River, Monroe Central, Tug Valley, Tucker County & Greater Beckley Christian in regular season outings.
Including three seasons as the girls head basketball coach from 2000 to 2002, Hart's overall head coaching record is 162-97. Over his 30-year span as an assistant and head coach with both the boys and girls teams, Hart finished his coaching career with 388 total wins.
"I've been blessed to be able to do what I love for so long. I've been blessed with amazing coaches to coach alongside with. I was fortunate to coach with my brother for seven season. I've coached with people I've known my whole life and some that I actually coached as players. That's very special to me." Hart said. "But truth be said, I could have never done this or done it for so long without my wife, Tiffany. She's been my support system through all of this; my number one fan, win or lose. She's told me time and time again, I can coach for as long as I want. I'm very fortunate and she loves the kids as much as I do." said Hart. "The coach's spouse is just as important to the team as the coach or players. Heck, she watched as much game film as I did and scouted with me." Hart chuckled.
The cupboard will be far from bare for the 2024-2025 Dragons. Two starters, another player with 10 starts under their belt and eight lettermen overall return to the fold next season. The Dragons also fielded a freshmen team the past two seasons.
"The relationships made and built over the last 30 years with players, other coaches, officials; you learn that those beat the wins hands down. You just hope that although you only get them for a small fraction of their lives, you hope you were able to be a positive influence in your players' lives and that they learned something good from you; not about the game of basketball however, something that they will take with them in their life so that some day, they can do the same in return."