Leslie Broadhurst retires from Randall High after 36 years of coaching

Just two weeks after the Randall High School Basketball Gymnasium was named after him, head basketball coach Leslie Broadhurst announced his retirement on Monday.

As the only basketball coach that Randall High School has ever had, Broadhurst has coached the Raiders for the past 36 years and has coached more than 40 years in his career. Over the past two seasons, Broadhurst has taken the team to its first two state tournament appearances in the program's history.

“Thirty-six years is a long time to coach at one school, and I never wanted to overstay my welcome,” Broadhurst said. "With my recent health issues and what we have accomplished, I just feel like the time is right. I am doing well right now, but after putting thought into it, and with my wife also retiring, it just seems the right time to go enjoy each other. We will watch games together and do some traveling; it will be a good experience.”

Broadhurst stressed that what he will miss most about coaching is working with the young men under his tutelage.

“I was able to visit and talk with the players yesterday,” he said. “It's going to be tough because I think I will miss the kids more than anything, but I am still here in town and will watch them play.”

With Broadhurst stepping down, he hopes that his longtime assistant, Trevor Johnson, will take over as head coach. Johnson has been an assistant with Broadhurst for the last 10 years.

“Hopefully, Trevor gets the job because he has been a key factor in our success. I have no doubt that he can get the job done and keep it rolling because he is a great one,” Broadhurst said. "He has paid his dues as a junior high coach and then for the last 10 years as my assistant. If he gets the job, that will be incredibly special.”

With his recent issues with brain tumors, Broadhurst says the treatments are going well after six weeks of chemotherapy, and he will resume more treatments in a few weeks. On May 21, an MRI will be performed to see if the tumor has shrunk.

“I feel great and have not been sick from the treatments or had other problems; I just get a little tired more than anything,” he said. “Other than that, it's been OK. I pray that the good Lord takes care of me."

With the new time off, Broadhurst says that it will be incredibly fun to go the Raider games, but he would also like to see a few college games like UTEP where his former player KJ Thomas will be playing.

According to Broadhurst, the decision to step down came shortly after the gymnasium was named after him.

“To be honest, before the brain tumor, I thought I would coach maybe another year, but after this, my wife and I decided it would be the right time for both of us to retire,” Broadhurst said. “Like many jobs, many coaches just go too long and stay in coaching and don't do well toward the end and often get forced out. It feels good to go out with the success that we have had in basketball the last few years, and having coached these great young men. It was great to see this last group of players go to the state final four during these last two years.”

Broadhurst stressed that these types of achievements are not what coaching is all about, but it's good to see players reach these heights, and he is confident that Johnson can keep the program on a great path.

“I have coached for over 40 years before I ever went to a state tournament, and while that was great, all coaches love kids and want to impact their lives beyond basketball,” he said. “What we did the past two years was unmistakably special, making it to the final four and competing with 218 teams across the state. Our kids had talked about winning a state championship since they came here, and this was such a special class, so I did not want to quit before those young men got through.”

A bond was created with the players that Broadhurst was reluctant to break, so he felt he was very reluctant to step aside before now.

“I have a lot of friends that have coached in many different places, many of which have more things to do and may be prettier than Amarillo, and they have all asked how I stayed this long,” he said. “It's not the beauty or the wind that constantly frustrates you, but man, Amarillo has such great people. The support we have had through the years has been amazing. The players, their families and the administration were so great to me. This has been a great rise and a great run, and I thank everyone who has supported me and the basketball team. It has been my honor to be a coach here in this great, supportive community.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Leslie Broadhurst, Randall High School basketball coach, retiring