SPARTANBURG, SC - On Monday afternoon the Broome boys basketball team was introduced to the new leader of their program as former coach Hal McManus returned to take over the reins of the basketball program.
McManus takes over for former coach Will Hickson, who left to take another job in the state, and returns to a job where he once led the Centurions to a state championship in 2005 after they defeated Lee Central 66-57 to claim the 2A state championship. McManus, who has been the athletic director at Liberty High School for the last two years, returns to the basketball court for the first time since leaving Boiling Springs in 2020. He said that the chance to return to a place that he and his family still consider home is a special opportunity that he never knew if he would get but is glad he has gotten this chance. "It has been quite the journey for me and my family the last few years as it has almost come full circle as my family and I are excited to be returning to Broome," said McManus. "My kids grew up in that building and we have a lot of great memories there. I talked to my wife Allison a few years ago and said I'd love to finish my career at Broome and I'm so thankful and blessed that God opened this door to allow me to return there. I'm happy as I could be to be back." McManus said it's crazy how different his life is now from his first time there because when he first took the job he had young kids and now one is taking over a high school volleyball program and the other is finishing up his freshman year of college. "My emotions have been all over the place thinking about this opportunity at Broome," said McManus. "My first practice at Broome, my daughter Hannah was about a year old trying to peek over my leg to see what was going on and now she is going to be running her own volleyball program at West Ashley and Trey is finishing his freshman year of college. When I was first there, they both acted like they ran the place because they knew where everything was at and were always looking for new places to play. While they're growing up now, Broome has been a big part of their lives as well." When McManus first took the job at Broome he had father, long time Hall of Fame Byrnes coach Harold McManus coaching with him, and now he hopes to have the opportunity to be joined by another generation on the bench, his son Trey McManus. "If I can look to the left of me on the bench and see Trey McManus and get to share that experience with him like I got to share with my dad, I don't think it gets better than that," said McManus. "I'm excited about the chance for him to be on the bench with me at Broome, a place that has meant so much to our family. I was lucky to have my dad here with me the first time as you don't have many opportunities to have the best coach in the state there with you on the bench. Trey's personality is a lot like my dad and he is straight shooter who will tell me like it is, and he'll be a good sounding board for me during games." McManus said that in his first meeting with the team on Monday, he learned that some of his players once had dads and uncles that played for him the first time he was at Broome. "The fun part is that two of the kids I met with, their dads played for me and another kid's uncle played for me at Broome," said McManus. "For me to get the opportunity to coach the kids of my former players is the definition of going full circle and I'm going to love those guys just like I loved their family before them. The opportunity to get some of the guys that played for me the first time back involved in the program is special too because I think it's important for the young men at Broome to hear other voices than just mine and to hear from guys that have been in their shoes. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work when we first got here the first time and those guys just continued to work. They were tough and hard-nosed and that's what helped us build the program the first time around. I'm happy to be back and feel I have 12-15 years left in me and I want to get to work real soon and build this program back up." While the McManus name is well known from his first time at Broome, he said that he wants anyone that doesn't know him to know that he's bringing a program of accountability to the Centurions. "I want them to know that I'm going to run an exemplary program that excels both athletically and academically," said McManus. "We're into building better humans, as well as better husbands and fathers down the road as we want to do stuff the right way. We talked today about it today that we're going to hold the kids accountable for their actions at all times, whether that's at school, out of school, or on the weekends because they're always representing our program. We want to build relationships with all the kids because if you don't do that, then I think the X's and O's can just go out the door. They have to know we're not here for them just while they're playing athletics but that we're there for them the rest of their lives. I told them they'll have to come punch the clock each day because I can't change who I am coaching wise because I have the same intesity that I had 28 years ago. I told them I may be upset at times but I'm also teaching at the same time. I told them I may be the first one to yell at them but I told them I'll also be the first one to congratulate them." He said that having the opportunity to return to coach basketball in Spartanburg County is special because it's such a great place for basketball in the state. "I don't think there's a better place to play basketball wise than Spartanburg County," said McManus. "All of the teams here are so well coached and the coaches are disciplined and their teams play the right way. It's such a competitive county when it comes to basketball as the smaller schools aren't afraid of the bigger schools in this county as they all want to see how they matchup against the others. The coaches in Spartanburg have always had comradery, as everyone here is willing to help each other out when you're not playing each other." One interesting matchup for McManus this season will be a non-region matchup where he will faceoff against a former player for the first time as he'll coach against new Chesnee head coach Zach Baldinelli, who was a former player of his at Boiling Springs. "That will be an emotional day for me because I think it's hard when you see that kid you love like your own and your job is to defeat them," said McManus. "I'm proud of him getting a head coaching job at such a young age and I know he'll do wonderful things at Chesnee. Now, don't get me wrong I want to defeat him just like he wants to defeat me as the competitiveness won't go away but I think the emotions will be tough. Once the ball is tipped off it’s going to be just another basketball game but afterwards when he shake hands and talk I’m sure the emotions will return. I’ve told him I’ll be pulling for him in every game but two this year.” McManus will look to get started right away as he says he’s busy working on the Centurions summer schedule as they'll be busy playing in the area. |
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