As the Henley boys basketball team began the 2023-24 season, head coach Luke Hammond realized he had reached a stopping point.
Hammond said he had been thinking of stepping down for “the last couple years”, but the urge grew especially strong before the most recent campaign.
“About the beginning of December I thought this had a good chance of being it for me,” Hammond said. “Year 12 as the head coach, year 20 in the program, [it] just felt right to be done and take a step back.”
Hammond broke the news to players at the program-wide end-of-season banquet March 14. He said he made it clear that his decision wasn’t influenced by the team’s performance at the state tournament (the Hornets dropped their quarterfinal game to Junction City before being eliminated in the consolation round by Crook County) or the fact that they’re losing seven seniors–including their entire starting lineup.
“We could have won the whole thing, I was still going to be done,” Hammond said. “I had my mind made up.”
Hammond finished the season with a career record of 193-92. He owns the highest winning percentage in the program’s recorded history (.677) and the second most wins overall (trailing only Jess Schefstrom’s 242 from 1985-2004). In 12 seasons under Hammond, Henley won eight Skyline Conference championships–including the past three–and made seven state tournaments, finishing as high as fifth in 2023.
“There was never two consecutive years that we didn’t win [a league title],” Hammond said. “That’s something we’re really proud of.”
Despite the Hornets’ success, the time commitment eventually became too much for Hammond to maintain.
“It’s been 20 years since I’ve had a Christmas break with my family…same with Thanksgiving break,” Hammond said. “It’s a long season to do things right. It’s a long season to give the boys the summer [league] opportunities. That’s pretty much the whole month of June, four to five days a week…it’s a tiring deal.”
As Henley’s athletic director, Hammond was in the unique position of getting to choose his successor and decided on longtime assistant coach Brian Stock. He’s already had to replace one of his other head coaches this year–Alex Stork resigned less than three weeks after leading the Hornets to their first football state championship since 1982–and said he didn’t view this situation as markedly different.
“This program has never been about me,” Hammond said. “I think it’s been really collaborative with my assistant coaches…there’s a lot of team decisions that get made between all of us.
“It’s not really like I’m feeling this weird sense to replace myself, it’s just keeping the thing on track.”
Hammond also indicated that a return to the Henley coaching staff sometime in the future isn’t out of the question.
“My son is 10, so I’d like to coach him,” Hammond said. “I’ll be in the gym next year as long as [Stock] will let me be in there volunteering…I’m not going to be too far away from the game.
“[The] door is always going to be open, but I think it’s just time to step back for a little bit and let someone else call the shots.”