High school basketball: Coaching win leaders from each state

Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), the all-time wins leader in Virginia, is now the No. 3 all-time wins leader in high school basketball history with 1,187 victories. With three wins the past week, Smith moved past Bob Hurley of St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), New Jersey's leader with 1,185 wins.

Smith and Hurley are two of the names on MaxPreps' list of the all-time boys basketball wins leaders from each state. Among the most recent to take over as the all-time leader in their respective states include Charles Smith of Peabody (La.), J.R. Holmes of Bloomington South (Ind.) and Richard Duease of Madison Ridgeland Academy (Miss.)

Charles Smith won the eighth state title in his 35-year coaching career last season, while also claiming the distinction of becoming the all-time wins leader in Louisiana with 1,075. Smith surpassed Joel Hawkins of Southern Lab (1,071 wins) during the playoffs.

Holmes overtook Jack Butcher of Loogotee at the end of 2019 and then went 27-0 in 2020. COVID-19 prevented Indiana from finishing its state tournament, however, preventing Holmes from possibly winning a third state title.



Duease overtook Norris Ashley of Ingomar as the all-time boys leader in Mississippi in 2017 and has 1,119 boys wins (he also won 592 games as a girls coach early in his career) including a 12-2 record in 2021.

Steve Smith, Duease and Charles Smith are three of 17 coaches who have at least 1,000 career wins. Robert Hughes of Fort Worth Dunbar (Texas) is the all-time leader with 1,333 wins while Morgan Wootten of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) is second with 1,274 wins and Bob Hurley of St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) is fourth with 1,185.

Source for the list include the National Federation of High Schools Record Book, state association websites and various newspapers researched via newspapers.com. In some cases, only win totals were available. The school where the coach won the majority of his games is the one listed.
Coaching win leaders from each state

Alabama
Eugene Mason
Record: 919-306
School: Hatch (Uniontown)
Years: 1968-2005 
State Titles: 7

Alaska
Chuck White
Record: 921-228
School: East Anchorage
Years: 1966-2010
State Titles: 18

Arizona
Gary Ernst
Record: 920-384
School: Mountain View (Mesa)
Years: 1974-2020
State Titles: 8

Arkansas
Morgan Gilbert
Record: 1,055-580
School: Tuckerman
Years: 1966-2012
State Titles: 0



California
Gary McKnight
Record: 1,161-118
School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana)
Years: 1983-2020
State Titles: 11

Colorado
Dick Katte
Record: 857-229
School: Denver Christian
Years: 1964-2012
State Titles: 8

Connecticut
Vito Montelli
Record: 878-328
School: St. Joseph (Trumbull)
Years: 1963-2012
State Titles: 11

Delaware
Stan Waterman
Record: 558-146
School: Sanford (Hockessin)
Years: 1992-2020
State Titles: 7

District of Columbia
Joe Gallagher
Record: 866-298
School: St. John's
Years: 1947-91
State Titles: 12 (West Catholic League titles)

Florida
Ed Kershner
Record: 901-377
School: Oviedo
Years: 1970-2017
State Titles: 2



Georgia
Ronald Bradley
Record: 1,019-322
School: Heritage (Conyers)
Years: 1958-2010
State Titles: 3

Hawaii
Mark Mugiishi
Record: 463-125
School: 'Iolani (Honolulu)
Years: 1990-2009
State Titles: 7

Idaho
Bill Hawkins
Record: 596-295
School: Madison (Rexburg)
Years: 1985-2017
State Titles: 5

Illinois
Gene Pingatore
Record: 1,035-383
School: St. Joseph (Westchester)
Years: 1969-2019
State Titles: 2

Indiana
J.R. Holmes
Record: 844-343
School: Bloomington South
Years: 1970-2021
State Titles: 2

Iowa
Bob Hilmer
Record: 917-347
School: North Linn (Troy Mills)
Years: 1964-2019
State Titles: 2



Kansas
Frank Lindley
Record: 594-118
School: Newton
Years: 1914-45
State Titles: 8

Kentucky
Billy Hicks
Record: 1,013-276
School: Scott County (Georgetown)
Years: 1982-2019
State Titles: 2

Louisiana
Charles Smith
Record: 1,088-187
School: Peabody (Alexandria)
Years: 1986-2020
State Titles: 8

Maine
IJ Pinkham
Record: 659-313
School: Boothbay (Boothbay Harbor)
Years: 1972-2020
State Titles: 1

Maryland
Morgan Wootten
Record: 1,274-192
School: DeMatha (Hyattsville)
Years: 1957-2002
State Titles: 33 WCAC titles, 5 national titles

Massachusetts
Bob Foley
Record: 947 wins
School: St. John's (Shrewsbury)
Years: 1963-2020
State Titles: 2



Michigan
Roy Johnston
Record: 784-325
School: Beaverton
Years: 1967-70, 1975-2020
State Titles: 0

Minnesota
Robert McDonald
Record: 1,012-428
School: Chisholm
Years: 1956-2014
State Titles: 3

Mississippi
Richard Duease
Record: 1,119 wins
School: Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Madison)
Years: 1976-2020
State Titles: 12 overall MAIS state titles

Missouri
Bud Lathrop
Record: 1,026-385
School: Raytown South (Raytown)
Years: 1958-2006, 2015-17
State Titles: 4

Montana
Dean Gamradt
Record: 717-194
School: Fairfield
Years: 1971-1996
State Titles: 5

Nebraska
Duane Mendlik
Record: 694-387
School: Wisner-Pilger (Wisner)
Years: 1971-2020
State Titles: 2



Nevada
Bill Bobier
Record: 604-211
School: Valley (Las Vegas)
Years: 1968-87
State Titles: 4

New Hampshire
Lang Metcalf
Record: 507 wins
School: Lebanon
Years: 1960-1997
State Titles: 2

New Jersey
Bob Hurley
Record: 1,185-124
School: St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)
Years: 1974-2017
State Titles: 26 state, 4 national championships

New Mexico
Ralph Tasker
Record: 1,122-291
School: Hobbs
Years: 1941-98
State Titles: 12

New York
Jack Curran
Record: 972-437
School: Archbishop Molloy (Queens)
Years: 1958-2013
State Titles: 5 city titles

North Carolina
Freddy Johnson
Record: 1,092-304
School: Greensboro Day School (Greensboro)
Years: 1977-2020
State Titles: 11



North Dakota
Dan Carr
Record: 752 wins
School: Linton
Years: 1978-2020
State Titles: 3

Ohio
Richard Kortokrax
Record: 890-372
School: Kalida
Years: 1960-2015
State Titles: 1

Oklahoma
Boney Matthews
Record: 922-245
School: Purcell
Years: 1934-73
State Titles: 3

Oregon
Mike Doherty
Record: 850-390
School: Newberg
Years: 1963-2012
State Titles: 3

Pennsylvania
Ron Insinger
Record: 1,043-233
School: Loyalsock Township (Williamsport)
Years: 1974-2020
State Titles: 1

Rhode Island
George Jacques
Record: 509 wins
School: Ponaganset (North Scituate)
Years: 1974-2008
State Titles: 4



South Carolina
John Smith
Record: 943-267
School: Great Falls
Years: 1969-2016
State Titles: 8

South Dakota
Larry Luitjens
Record: 748-305
School: Custer
Years: 1968-2015
State Titles: 7

Tennessee
Walter Van Huss
Record: 1,021-313
School: Dobyns-Bennett (Kingsport)
Years: 1953-89
State Titles: 1

Texas
Robert Hughes
Record: 1,333-265
School: Dunbar (Fort Worth)
Years: 1959-2005
State Titles: 5

Utah
George Bruce
Record: 698 wins
School: Dugway
Years: 1973-2020
State Titles: 2

Vermont
Robert Gillam
Record: 618-496
School: Hartford (White River Junction)
Years: 1959-2009
State Titles: 0



Virginia
Steve Smith
Record: 1,183-80
School: Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson)
Years: 1986-2020
State Titles: 0 (does not play in state tournament, 7 No. 1 mythical national championships).

Washington
Ed Pepple
Record: 952-306
School: Mercer Island
Years: 1958-2009
State Titles: 4

West Virginia
Dave Rogers
Record: 786 wins
School: Martinsburg
Years: 1976-2020
State Titles: 2

Wisconsin
Jerry Petitgoue
Record: 963-256
School: Cuba City
Years: 1965-2020
State Titles: 3

Wyoming
Mike Curry
Record: ,605-152
School: Campbell County (Gillette)
Years: 1984-2013
State Titles: 12