Hometown: Topeka, KS
High School: Topeka Hayden HS '95
Junior College: Labette County Community College '97
College: Nicholls State University / Kansas Wesleyan University ‘00
Undergraduate Degree: Health Physical Education and Recreation
Graduate Degree: Health, Human Performance & Recreation
Years as NCCC Head Coach: In 14th Year
Overall Record: 219-188
| Coach Coombs Record |
| Year |
Record |
| 07-08 |
14-17 |
| 08-09 |
16-15 |
| 09-10 |
20-11 |
| 10-11 |
16-15 |
| 11-12 |
17-14 |
| 12-13 |
12-19 |
| 13-14 |
21-11 |
| 14-15 |
25-5 |
| 15-16 |
30-6 |
| 16-17 |
12-20 |
| 17-18 |
9-22 |
| 18-19 |
15-14 |
| 19-20 |
12-19 |
| Career |
219-188 |
Coach Coombs enters his 14th season as Head Men’s Basketball Coach for the Panthers and is currently the all-time winningest coach in Neosho County basketball history.
After taking over a Panther program that was at an all-time low, Coombs has established the Panthers as a nationally recognized program and Panthers have never looked back.
Before Coombs arrival, the Panthers had only won just 15 games in their previous two seasons. But under his helm, the program has produced 6 NJCAA All-Americans, 2 KJCCC players of the year, 30 NCAA D1 players, 22 All-Conference players, and 16 All-Region players. In 2016 the Panthers broke several program records and also claimed the most wins in a single season (30) and grabbed its first-ever Region VI Championship along with its first-ever birth to the NJCAA National Tournament in program history under Coach Coombs.
“I am so excited about Panther basketball and how far this program has come. said Coach Coombs. “My family and I came to Chanute to help bring Panther basketball pride back to Chanute and Neosho County Community College and get these young men to the next level and we have worked hard to turn this program around and we will continue to work to keep Panther basketball at the highest level".
Coombs started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart High School in Salina KS. That next summer he accepted the assistant coaching position with the USBL Kansas Cagerz.
For the next three summers Coombs helped lead the USBL Kansas Cagerz to an outstanding 65-20 record, where they became Midwest Division Champs in (2001) (2002), Regular Season Champs in (2001) (2002) and USBL Tournament Runners-up in the 2002 season. While with the Cagerz Coombs coached some very outstanding players in - Devin Brown...former Cleveland Cavalier, Jeff Boschee...All-time KU three-point leader, Billy Thomas...Former KU standout also played with the Cleveland Cavs, Martin Lewis...Formally with the Toronto Raptors, Jermane Jackson...Former point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, Johnny Jackson...The University of Mississippi standout and current USBL all-time leading rebounder and Lee Benson...2001 - 2002 Jr. College All American.
During the 2002-2003 college season, Coombs also assisted Francis Flax at Brown Mackie College where he helped lead them to a Region VI Division II Championship. As an assistant under Flax, Coach Coombs gained valuable experience in every facet of the game, spending time recruiting, scouting, developing game plans and monitoring academic progress.
In the 2003-2004 season Coombs took the Assistant Coaching position at Highland Community College an NJCAA Division I School in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
After establishing himself as a recruiter and a player’s coach; Coombs left Highland to pursue an assistant men’s basketball coach coaching vacancy at his former college - Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. At Nicholls Coombs helped rebuild what was once a great NCAA D1 low-major program in the Southland Conference and helped get the program back on its feet and out of a 4-year rut.
Coach Coombs came to Neosho after serving as the assistant coach at Pratt Community College in the Jayhawk West. While at Pratt the Beavers went 45-13, won the Jayhawk West and at one time was ranked 8th in the NJCAA National Polls.
Over a stretch of three years, Coombs and the Panthers went on a run of winning 76 games and only losing 22 in the hardest conference format the Jayhawk Conference has ever had. In 2016-2017 the Panthers broke several program records winning 30 games, in a single season, won the Region VI Championship and went to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in program history.
Coombs known for his recruiting has also placed 100% of his players at 4-year Universities and had placed well over 30 players at NCAA D1 Universities. Most recently Brian Tolfree (UNC-Willmington), Lual Dung (Wyoming University), Freddie McSwain Jr. (Indiana University), Jalen Jackson (UT Martin), Brett Frantz (Youngstown St University), Jo Acuil (Baylor University).
As a player, Coombs played High School basketball at Hayden High in Topeka Kansas. During his 4-years there, Hayden continued to establish themselves as a 4A powerhouse. He then sighed a national letter of intent to play Juco Basketball at Labette Community College in Parsons Kansas. At Labette, he was a member of the 1996 & 1997 Jayhawk All-Star Team. Coombs was a two-time letterman and went on to play Division I basketball at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. At Nicholls, he lettered in his only season as an NSU Colonel. Coombs then went on to finish his career at Kansas Wesleyan University under Jerry Jones where he was a one-year letterman and a 30 game starter on a 20-10 nationally ranked team.
Coach Coombs is married to the former Lindsay Krehbiel of Pretty Prairie, Kansas. They have three teenage boys’… Tye (18), Jackson (17) and Carter (15). The Coombs family resides in Chanute, Kansas.
