Bean named Libby basketball coach

Libby School Board members voted to hire former freshman coach, Josh Bean, as the new head coach for the high school boys’ basketball team.

During a Libby School Board meeting May 12, Jerry Mee and Nik Rewerts withdrew their names from the applicant pool for the position. This left Bean, 33, as the only applicant. The board deemed it necessary to re-evaluate Bean for the position before taking a final vote.

On May 20, the same interview committee assembled for the second time, joined by two school board members, to re-interview Bean. The interview resulted in a unanimous vote to hire Bean as the head coach.

After holding the head coach position for 16 years, former coach Wally Winslow resigned. Winslow said he resigned because he wants to watch his daughter’s high school basketball games. Jayden Winslow, 13, will start her high school basketball career this year. Girls and boys basketball seasons coincide.

“I would have to be a dad and a coach,” Winslow said. “I didn’t want to short-change my team and my daughter, and family comes first.”

Bean has coached basketball for a total of 12 years, nine of which were in the Libby School District. He has had the life-long goal of becoming a head basketball coach.

“I am very excited and honored to be the next head basketball coach for the boys team,” Bean said.

Bean plans on working with his players at open gyms this summer. He said the players will practice four-to-five times a week to prepare for next season. Bean knows other teams practice year-round and he wants his team to have a chance to compete.

“We need to practice every chance we get,” Bean said. “We realize that we want to win. We need to stay competitive.”

Rewerts will work closely with Bean as an assistant coach. The two have previous experience working with together as football coaches.

“Nik and I played basketball against each other in high school,” Bean said. “I played for Eureka and he played for Libby. Nik was actually coached by Wally Winslow his senior year.”

Winslow, 46, believes Bean possesses an important quality of treating players fairly. Winslow said that he has no doubt in his mind that Bean will give all of his players a chance to excel.

“I know he will work hard,” Winslow said. “No one will out-work him. He will hold his players accountable and treat everyone fairly.”

Libby Middle/High School Athletic Director, Jim Germany, also believes Bean is the man for the job.

“I’m excited for him to get a chance to build our basketball program,” Germany said.