Yuma Catholic hires new boys basketball coach

Russell Lyons, 25, takes over program that’s just 14 months removed from state title

Two months and a week after dismissing Ricky Barnes, Yuma Catholic High School hired its new head boys basketball coach Monday.

Russell Lyons, 25, is set to take over the Shamrocks, who won the Yuma area’s first-ever boys basketball state championship just 14 months ago.

“Expectations at Yuma Catholic never change,” Yuma Catholic athletic director Louis Pisano said in a phone interview. “We’re going in the same direction. The only thing that’s changed is the driver.” The 2016-17 academic year is Lyons’ first at YC. Lyons was the freshman basketball coach and an assistant on varsity, in addition to coaching on the JV football team and teaching. “I’m blessed; I mean, honestly,” Lyons said in a phone interview. “I’m going to make the most of this opportunity. I know I’m young, but I’m really exciting and I’m driven.” Lyons, from Hanover, Va., outside of Richmond, played NCAA Division III basketball at Emory & Henry College in Virginia before moving to Yuma. His youth is something Pisano views as an asset to the program.

“He (is) young, and he’s eager,” Pisano said. “He’s ambitious. He’s one of our top teachers on our staff. He has a great rapport with the students and faculty. We just felt he would be the perfect fit for what we were looking for at Yuma Catholic.”

Lyons sees a lot of potential in the Shamrocks, who went 13-6 in Arizona Interscholastic Association games and lost in the second round of the 3A State Tournament last season. He expects JR Henderson and Parley Kirkham — who were fourth and fifth, respectively, on the team in scoring in 201617 — to be major contributors for the Shamrocks this winter. The top-three leading scorers — Jaylen Barnes, Blake Sandoval and Daniel Callender — are all seniors who will graduate in a few weeks.

“We have a lot of talent coming back,” Lyons said. “I’m really excited about a lot of our guys.”

The Shamrocks were 73-13 in AIA game during Barnes’ fouryear tenure from 2013-17 and made the playoffs all four years.