Taking the shot
Cabot promotes interim coach to head position
Near the end of January, Logan Bailey was appointed interim head basketball coach for the Cabot Panthers after former head coach Chris Meseke resigned.
Meseke departed Cabot midway through the season. In a press release from the school on Jan. 25, Cabot Superintendent Tony Thurman said, “Coach Meseke and I have a different vision for the program going forward, and we both agreed that it would be in the best interest for the program to move in a different direction.”
On Jan. 20, Cabot suspended Meseke for a personnel matter, but the district did not disclose the specifics of the matter. Meseke was in his second season as head coach at Cabot.
“I ended up being the interim head coach,” Bailey said, “and there was a learning curve and things we had to improve on. The community of Cabot is why I wanted to stay. Obviously, it is a big school, but it still has a small-town feel.
“Growing up in such a small town, with smalltown values — that was a big pull for me. I developed a good relationship with these kids, and it was hard to leave.”
On April 21, Bailey was officially named the new head basketball coach for Cabot.
“Coach Bailey is a positive and energetic role model for our student-athletes, and we are pleased that he will be leading our basketball program,” Thurman said in a press release from the school. “His background competing and coaching at the junior high, high school and college levels will serve him well, and we are excited about the future of Cabot Panther basketball.”
Bailey is originally from Greers Ferry, having graduated from West Side Greers Ferry High School in 2013. He played college basketball at Lyon College in Batesville for two years and served as a student assistant before graduating in 2017.
“I have had a love for basketball as long as I can remember,” Bailey said. “It was a huge part of
my life, and growing up, I had some good coaches who had a big impact on me.
“Even going into college, I thought I wanted to make a lot of money, but I matured a little bit and knew I wasn’t going to be happy unless I was doing something I loved.”
He said he knew he loved giving back to kids and the younger generation. It just took him a while to figure it out, but it has paid off for him. This is his first time as head coach.
“It is an honor more than anything to be trusted with a program. That’s a significant thing, and I’m humbled by it,” Bailey said. “Looking back, when I was getting into coaching, I was never in a hurry to be a head coach, not chomping at the bit, but instead, it is as important for me to learn as much as I can and be around great coaches.
“This was never really in that vision, but I’m happy where we are at, and given an opportunity, I took advantage of it. I’m not going to know what’s coming down the road, but it is important to adapt and prepare for it. … I’m very honored and humbled that I get to do this. I’m excited about it.”
Prior to Cabot, Bailey spent two years at Bentonville West under head coach Greg White.
“I know it is kind of cliché, but he is one of the hardest workers I have ever been around,” White said of Bailey. “He is constantly watching clinics on video and really working on his craft as a teacher, too.
“He was one of the better classroom teachers because of his work ethic. He was a vital part of one of the best seasons we had here. He has a brilliant mind for the game.”
White said Bailey is one of those guys who “seems too good to be true.”
“He cares about people, and he goes out of his way to help others,” White said. “He is humble, but he works hard, and he is always one step ahead.”
As interim coach, Bailey led Cabot to a 7-7 record in conference, and the Panthers were the sixth seed going into the state tournament.
“As we reflect on this season, we had some really good wins down the stretch,” Bailey said. “We were fortunate enough to beat Bryant, but it is a battle every night.
“Our guys won some memorable ones and won a game in the state tournament. It may not be where we wanted to be, but it was not a failure at all.”
White said some might discredit Bailey because he doesn’t “have enough gray hair to be a head coach.”
“But he puts in the time and does some things to separate himself from other people,” White said. “In the past 40 years of Cabot High School, only three coaches have won a state-tournament game, and he is one of those three. … The situation he was put in midseason — a lot of guys wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”
Bailey said the most important thing to him is for members of his team to play together and play unselfishly.
“When we score, we should thank the passer — it’s a minor detail, but we should be thankful for everything and enjoy getting to play together,” Bailey said. “That’s something we are going to preach and demonstrate on the floor.”
The coach said he held a Zoom meeting to talk to the graduating seniors and some of his incoming players, including the freshmen. He said he is excited to coach them.
“The situation right now is strange, and I’ll give them all the resources I can for them to be successful and have a good offseason,” Bailey said. “Not having them in the gym is really hard, especially as a new coach coming in.
“We are missing huge valuable time to grow. I can only give them all the resources I can and use this time wisely and help us going forward.”