Tops in the state

By JASON PEEVYHOUSE

Sports Editor

Following a season which completed a three-year story of a six-win team to a state champion, Dyersburg High School's Tim Strayhorn has been selected as the TSSAA Girls Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

“That's a pretty good honor coming from being a middle school coach and a high school assistant,” Strayhorn said of being named the state's coach of the year in high school girls basketball. “But it's all due to the good coaching staff I have at the high school and middle school. It's not just me, it's them, too.

“It's not just an award for me – it's an award for my coaching staff and all of my players.”

Strayhorn took over the program in May 2021 with less than a starting lineup returning to the roster. After winning just six games in his first season as a high school head coach, Strayhorn and the Lady Trojans finished as the District 13-3A runner-up then won the Region 7-3A Tournament before punching Dyersburg's ticket to the state tournament for the first time in ten years.

“As Dyersburg City Schools searched for the next head girls basketball coach, we did not look far,” Dyersburg Superintendent Kim Worley said. “Coach Tim Strayhorn is a graduate of Dyersburg High School, bleeds black and gold, and strives for excellence.

“I have never seen anyone work harder than him. I am so proud for Coach Tim, his players, our school, and our community. I am very excited to see what the future has in store for the Lady Trojans!”

But, it was this past season where the Lady Trojans broke through to the promised land. Dyersburg swept through the regular season and finished their schedule with a 22-4 record. In the postseason, the Lady Trojans were even more dominant, sweeping through the district and region tournaments before dominating Covington in the Class 3A Sectional Round.

This marked the first time in over 30 years Dyersburg reached the state tournament in back-to-back years.

“What a well-deserved honor!” Dyersburg Principal Kamela Rogers said. “I am so proud of Coach Tim Strayhorn and the girls basketball program at DHS. He continuously focuses on hard work and it's great to continue to celebrate accomplishments!”

Rogers was a member of the 2001 Lady Trojan team which advanced to Murfreesboro and played for Strayhorn at the AAU level.

After the previous year's first-round exit in Murfreesboro, Dyersburg defeated the defending state the TSSAA Class 3A State Championship Game for the first time since 2005. The Lady Trojans' season cultivated in a packed house at MTSU and a 41-39 win over Upperman in the finals.

“That just shows what hard work does,” Strayhorn explained of the quick turnaround to the Lady Trojan program. “I always look at it this way. Hard work is going to pay off but we don't know when.

“It was just from all the hard work and all the hours in the gym. And, just being dedicated. The whole program just working hard – the coaches, the players, the administration. We all just put a lot of work in and it paid off.”

Before winning the highest honor a girls basketball coach can win in the TSSAA, Strayhorn was named the District 13-3A Coach of the Year as well as the State Gazette Coach of the Year for Dyersburg High School. Fittingly, Strayhorn, a 1982 graduate of Dyer County High School, will be inducted into the Dyersburg City Schools Hall of Honor later this year.

“I want to thank my administration,” Strayhorn added. “I've got to give thanks to Mrs. Kim Worley, Mrs. Kamela Rogers, Coach Blaine Mahaffey, and Ms. Lenita Click at my Intermediate School for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to come to Dyersburg and coach.”