Longtime local basketball coach steps down (updated with coach quotes)
GASTONIA — Gaston County’s second all-time winningest girls basketball coach is calling it a career.
Hunter Huss’ Jan Wiggins on Tuesday announced her resignation after 21 years at the school, bidding farewell to a program she guided to seven conference championships.
“It’s tough to walk away, but I feel like it’s time,” said Wiggins, who previously coached 10 years at nearby Southwest Junior High.
In addition to her seven regular-season conference titles, Wiggins won three tournament championships. She compiled a career record of 281-205, which puts her in second place among Gaston County coaches who dealt exclusively with girls teams. Mrs. O.L. Kiser, who coached the Stanley girls from the 1930s until 1954, holds the record according to Gazette archives, although her actual win-loss total is unknown.
“I think she did an outstanding job in the time she was here,” Hunter Huss athletic director Terry Radford said. “You don’t get people to stay at one place for a long time any more.”
Wiggins said it might have been time to leave several years ago, but she kept growing attached to certain groups of athletes, making it difficult to part ways. She retired as a teacher two years ago, then returned to fulltime teaching duties while collecting retirement in a move known as “double dipping.” This past year, she filled in as a substitute teacher and spent far less time at Huss during the day.
“I didn’t realize how hard it would be not being at the school any more and coaching,” she said.
Wiggins wouldn’t rule out a possible future return to coaching as an assistant.
Known for her competitiveness and intensity on the sideline, Wiggins was a winner from her first season in 1989-90. The Huskies went 23-1 that season and won the Southwestern 4A Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Hunter Huss followed with a 20-4 mark in 1991, again sweeping the Southwestern 4A titles.
Wiggins later won regular-season conference championships in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. She picked up another tournament title in 2003 with a memorable 79-77 overtime victory over Forestview that featured a desperation buzzer beater by Carleena Costner at the end of regulation.
“That shot Carleena hit, I’ll never forget that,” Wiggins said.
Hunter Huss reached 20 wins in five seasons under Wiggins, including three straight from 2003 to 2005. Her final team placed third in the Big South 3A Conference and finished 12-9 overall, after which she was named league coach of the year by her peers.
“She always did stuff first-class,” Radford said. “She always tried to have the girls prepared. It’s going to be hard for someone to step in and put in the time she put in.”
She coached in the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game and the Carolinas All-Star Basketball Classic. Wiggins also served a term on the N.C. Coaches Association board.
Wiggins said she would miss the camaraderie of the coaching staff and the lasting relationships she built with her players, some of which still keep in touch. She expressed appreciation to Gary Henry, the principal who hired her, as well as her family, school administration, faculty and the Hunter Huss community for their support. She also credited Terry Benson for serving 20 years as her assistant.
Radford said he’ll wait and see which teaching positions open up before he hires Wiggins’ successor. He would prefer to hand the job to a faculty member, which would rule out Benson and Wiggins’ other 2010 assistant, Bobby Lipscomb.
You can reach Phillip Gardner at 704-869-1843.
