Matt Wester led the 2023-24
Plano East (Plano, Texas) boys basketball team to the No. 8 spot in the MaxPreps Top 25 high school basketball rankings, a 40-0 record and the first state title in program history.
For his efforts and success, Wester has been named the 2023-24 MaxPreps National Coach of the Year.
In his sixth season as head coach at Plano East, Wester led the Panthers to their first MaxPreps Top 25 finish in school history after becoming the first undefeated champion in the state's highest classification since Duncanville in 2006-07.
"You don't become a coach to win coaching awards," Wester said. "You become a coach to work with kids and to be around basketball and
impact lives. You can be the best coach in the world and never get a
chance because of your roster or because of your situation or injuries.
"The
best word is humbling," Wester said of the honor. "I know whenever I would watch people get awards
on TV and people would say I am humbled to receive this — I always
thought that was silly, like it didn't make any sense to me. Now that
I'm here I understand it because it is humbling. If
Jordan Mizell hurts
his knee again then I'm not getting this award, or if
D.J. Hall doesn't
develop into such a great player we probably aren't having this
conversation. There is just so many other factors that effected it. It's
your coaches, the players, the support from the administration, the
families of the kids. That is why it is so humbling."
Although it was the first state title won by any team at Plano East, the basketball-rich history of the school started over 30 years ago with Jimmy King – a member of Michigan's Fab Five – starring at the school. Three years later in 1994, the Wolves reached the Class 5A state championship game but fell to Sugar Land Willowridge.
Wester took over the program following a 5-29 season in 2017-18 when nobody else wanted the job. He had served as an assistant at the school since 2012.
In his first year as head coach in 2018-19, Plano East went 10-23. That was followed by 14-16 and 10-14 campaigns.
Year four brought the breakthrough as Wester led the Wolves to a 24-9 record in 2020-21. That was followed by a 31-5 mark last season and a perfect 40-0 in 202-24.
Wester said there was a palpable buzz in the community throughout the season.
"The school opened in 1981 and this is the first title in any sport," Wester said. "It means so
much, it means a lot to the school and the community. We were at the
state championship game and there were 8,000 spectators there and they
threw a little parade for us. There was 4,000 people at our third round
playoff game. It just meant so much to the community, all of our
principals who had ever been a principal at our school started coming to
the games, the mayor started coming to the games, the city council, the
superintendent were coming to the games."
Matt Wester celebrates with his team during the closing moments of a win over Stony Point in the Class 6A state championship game. (Photo: Robbie Rakestraw)
Although Wester could have never imagined just how successful his team would be on a national scale, he had an idea of his team's capabilities over the summer.
"In June, we have this big event called the Texas Coaches Association Showcase and the four best teams were matched up together and we did really well," Wester said. "We played Brennan and we got up by 30 and they started running the clock, and then we beat Stony Point by 22 and knocked off Beaumont United. When that was over I thought not only do we have a chance to be the best team but I think we are leading the pack."
Although the focus on the team was clear, the undefeated season wasn't a point of emphasis and wasn't even a thought coming into the season according to Wester.
"We didn't know we were going to go undefeated, but once we got further
in the season and we saw the goal getting smaller and smaller it became
real," Wester said.
Despite the potential distractions, the Panthers remained focused on the goal of winning a state title. On March 9, Plano East accomplished that goal with a 53-41 victory over nationally-ranked Stony Point (Round Rock) in the championship game.
The Panthers outscored opponents by an average of 22.7 points per contest with just five games decided by less than 10 points.
Past MaxPreps National Coaches of the Year
2010 — Ed Azzam, Westchester (Los Angeles)
2011 — Bob Hurley, St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)
2012 — Danny Henderson, Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas)
2013 — Quincy Lewis, Lone Peak (Highland, Utah)
2014 — Gary McKnight, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
2015 — Sam Duane Jr., Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.)
2016 — Pat Donnelly, University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit)
2017 — Wes Swift, Jonesboro (Ark.)
2018 — Kevin Boyle, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
2019 — Mike Thompson, McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.)
2020 — No award (Pandemic)
2021 — David Peavy, Duncanville (Texas)
2022 — Josh Giles, Centennial (Centennial, Calif.)
2023 — Ty White, John Marshall (Richmond, Va.)
