Whitehouse Hires Jacksonville’s Brent Kelley As New Boys Basketball Coach

Less than two weeks after Ryan Tomlin turned in his resignation, the Whitehouse Wildcats have hired his replacement as the next head boys basketball coach.

The Whitehouse ISD board approved the hire of Jacksonville's Brent Kelley on Monday to fill the void left by Tomlin, who accepted an assistant principal position at Lindale High School earlier this month.

“You look at their school district and their overall athletic program, and more specifically the history and tradition they have in basketball, my whole family is excited about becoming a part of that," Kelley said of Whitehouse.

Kelley guided Jacksonville to its best regular season in school history last season. The Indians began the 2012-13 season 32-0, losing in its District 16-4A finale at John Tyler before exiting in the second round of the playoffs with a loss to McKinney North.

In four seasons at Jacksonville, Kelley compiled a 106-30 record, which included a run to the Class 4A Region II semifinals in 2011.

"From top to bottom, everybody from the coaches to the players have been on the same page," Kelley said of his time at Jacksonville. "We were a true team and had a lot of success. The biggest thing I’ll miss is the players. We won a lot of games with that group the last four years. The carried themselves well both on and off the court and that’s something I’m really proud of.”

Whitehouse, which finished third in 16-4A last season behind Jacksonville and John Tyler, finished 23-10 overall and suffered a second-round loss in the playoffs.