Veteran Scott County Central coach back - for a while

To see the coach stalking beside the bench Friday at the Show Me Center, you'd think he was back.

Watching him scream himself hoarse and stomp after a blown call, you'd wonder if he ever left.

Just ask his players staring at the hardwood after getting chewed out, they'll tell you the old coach has returned.

One person in the building thinks differently: the man himself, coach Ronnie Cookson of Scott County Central High School. He says he hasn't returned to coaching. He's just filling in to help his beloved program.

"I'm not back," said Cookson with a broad smile, adding, "Even if we win the state tournament, I'm still retired. There isn't enough money in Southeast Missouri to get me back. If I have to starve to death, well, then I'll starve to death. I'm not working as a basketball coach."

Cookson, 62, has 12 high school basketball state championships. He tallied more championships during his 25 years with the Braves than anyone in Missouri before or since. But he's not planning to add to the collection.

"I swore I'd never get back in this," he said. "It's too much stress. I'll be lucky not to have a nervous breakdown before this year's over with."

The Braves, under Cookson's direction, play for fifth place today in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Cookson returned to the sidelines in June after the Missouri State High School Athletic Association suspended coach David Heeb for attempting to recruit players from the neighboring Bell City district in 2005.

After a phone call from school superintendent and friend Dr. Joby Holland, Cookson reluctantly agreed to add coaching to his regular job as a pest control specialist.

He inherited a program that has only won 20 games once since he left in 1995. Cookson won 20 games in all but four of his 25 seasons.

The Braves have also endured three coaching changes during Cookson's retirement.

The constant changes, Cookson said, have contributed as much as anything else to the Braves' championship drought.

His players, though, say they're thrilled at the opportunity to play for a man they consider to be a legend.

"He's a really good coach. I grew up hearing about him, so now I'm just trying to listen when he talks," said senior guard Avery Williams.

Williams' older brother played for Cookson in the early 1990s, so Williams says he knew what to expect.

"He gets really into the games, that's just him," Williams said. "He's really helped me improve my game all around."

A former adversary, Lennies McFerron, who coached the Charleston Blue Jays from 1977 to 1993 and won multiple state titles, said Cookson is one of a kind. McFerron is now the principal at Scott County Central.

"He loved his players and it showed. ... He was a father figure, it didn't matter what color. He cares about kids," McFerron said.

So much that his voice strained as he described his players "letting up" at the end of Friday's game in which the Braves held off a late charge from the Oran Eagles for a three-point victory.

"It's just unacceptable. I told the kids in the locker room. I'm not a quitter, and I'm not going to let them quit."

Then, with a quick grin, he said, "This is why I can't do this."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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