Different voice
Newark prepares for state semifinal without suspended head coach
When J.R. Shumate’s phone lit up with a flurry of texts last Friday congratulating him on the Newark girls basketball team’s regional final win over Dublin Coffman, he was caught off-guard. He didn’t realize the game was over. h Shumate, the Wildcats’ coach for almost 20 years, was suspended for two games after being ejected late in a regional semifinal win over Pickerington Central. He watched a live stream of Friday’s game from his car in the parking lot at Westerville South High School, but because the stream had buffering issues, he was behind what was happening live. h “I was getting texts from people that we’d won, and I was still watching the game,” Shumate said this week.
“(The seniors) really have a lot of motivation to do this this year, especially because of last year. This means a lot. This year does mean a lot to us.”
Emma Shumate Newark senior
“It was coming right down to the end, we were holding the ball and I think there may have been like 25, 30 seconds left in the game and I got a flood of texts saying, ‘Congrats, survive and advance,’ all these different things. I was like, ‘Oh, spoiler alert, I think we won.’ ”
Shumate called it “gut-wrenching” to not be on the court with his team, particularly in the final minutes.
It’s an experience he’ll have to relive at 5 p.m. Friday in a Division I state semifinal against Akron Hoban at University of Dayton Arena — though this time he’ll be allowed to watch from inside the facility.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with these girls ever since they’ve been in third, fourth, fifth grade,” Shumate said. “I love them, they love me and they’re at one of the most difficult moments of the tournament and of the season (and I couldn’t be there).
“It’s like raising kids. When they start driving or they’re going to prom or they’re dealing with a tough time at school and you can’t be there for them, it’s very, very difficult.”
It’s particularly apt that Shumate compared coaching his team to raising children, given that his daughter, Emma, is a senior standout for Newark who this week was named the Central District’s Division I player of the year. J.R. has been Emma’s coach since she was in second grade, and they both are
reckoning with the fact that their time on the court together is coming to an end.
“I think about it a lot, especially these last couple games,” Emma Shumate said. “I just feel really fortunate, reminiscing a lot. A lot of good years, a lot of good memories at Newark.”
“It’s been wonderful,” J.R. said. “You take a relationship, obviously, that you’re really, really close and then you add something that both of you love and enjoy and you can go out and do it every day, it’s just been a real joy. I think it’s really deepened our relationship.”
Last year, the Wildcats qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2017 but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the tournament before they played their semifinal game. Newark’s girls have never won a state title, and the Shumates have one final chance to win one together.
To get there, the Wildcats (26-1) will have to beat a team unlike any they’ve seen this season.
“(Hoban is) atypical in that they take the approach of throwing the ball inside,” J.R. Shumate said. “That has become kind of a dinosaur in basketball, it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the pro level, the high school level or the college level.
“That’s the challenge: You’ve got a week to get yourself ready for something that you haven’t seen once this season.”
Shumate has formulated a game plan, but in-game adjustments will have to come from assistant Jack Eifert, who will serve as acting coach in Shumate’s absence.
“That’s the biggest adjustment, obviously, is during the game you have a different voice,” Shumate said. “Jack is going to do his best and our girls have to have all the more familiarity with the game plan so that they’re able to internalize it and they don’t need as many reminders during the game.”
If the Wildcats can get the win, J.R.’S suspension will be up, and Emma will have one final game with her father as her coach, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Capping their time on the floor together with a state championship would be a storybook ending, for them and the rest of the team.
“(The seniors) really have a lot of motivation to do this this year, especially because of last year,” Emma said. “This means a lot. This year does mean a lot to us.” bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_