Augustine built up Ironwood’s program patiently
When Jordan Augustine’s first coaching job as junior varsity coach at Ironwood High School resulted in a 4-14 season, little did he know he’d be promoted to varsity head coach the next year.
“Somehow I impressed them enough to make me varsity coach,” he said.
Good thing.
With patience and building, Ironwood this season went 28-2, became the only Arizona team to beat Goodyear Millennium and captured the school’s first 5A state championship.
And as a result, Augustine was chosen by The Arizona Republic as the 2019-20 Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in his fifth year leading the program.
“It’s definitely been a process,” said Augustine, whose first varsity team five years ago went 9-17. “The kids that first year they deserve as much as anyone credit for winning the state championship.
“They fought for culture, set the foundation for what Ironwood was going to be like.”
Ironwood went from 9-17 that first year under Augustine to 17-10, 15-12, 23-5 and the school-record 28 wins.
The last four teams reached the state tournament. Augustine, who grew up in the Salt Lake City area and played and helped coach at Arizona Christian University, was Ironwood’s third coach in three years when he took over.
“This was a tight group,” he said. “I think that was a big reason we had success. Almost every team says, ‘Family,’ when they do the breakdowns. I think our guys really meant it. The only ‘I’ we play for is Ironwood. Our guys really bought into it.”
It started with an amazing backcourt, led by the school’s all-time leading scorer Dominic Gonzalez and Trent Hudgens, who ramped up the Eagles more when he became eligible at mid-season.
“As much talent as we had, it is hard to get a backcourt like that to share the basketball with each other,” Augustine said. “They all shared it.
“I think no matter where you are, there is an adjustment period for guys to figure out what their roles are. Dom averaged over 20 points a game. His numbers went down (when Hudgens began playing). But his rebounds and assists went up. His steals went up. He found other ways to impact the game. That was fun to watch.”