Ellinwood High School has hired a new head boys' basketball coach over the summer.
Dustin Klassen, a former Great Bend boys' basketball assistant coach, will helm the Eagles starting in the upcoming 2012-13 season.
"This is very exciting," Klassen said. "I took the job at the end of last school year. I can't wait to get started."
Klassen said that he remembers when his father, Marlo, was the head boys' basketball coach at Ellinwood.
"This was before I was in kindergarten," Klassen said. "My dad was the coach at Ellinwood for three or four years. I really don't know how long he was at the school, but I remember I used to ride the Eagles bus to games."
Now, Klassen gets a chance to start his head coaching career where his father once coached.
Klassen has experience as an assistant coach under his belt.
"I started coaching when I was still at Wichita State University," Klassen said. "I was an assistant coach at Kapaun Mt. Carmel for one year.
"Great Bend was my first teaching and coaching job. I was coaching at the eighth-grade level for one year before I became the JV and assistant coach at Great Bend High School."
Klassen said the job opening, which came about after Ellinwood's former head coach Shane Duncan took the head coaching job at Canton-Galva, was a perfect opportunity for him.
"It works really well," Klassen said. "My wife is a nurse, and she won't have to move or change jobs. I checked around after last basketball season. I kept an eye out for an opening, and the opening in Ellinwood showed up."
Klassen said he has already gotten started working with Ellinwood.
"We've done work in the weight room, and I've done some camps," Klassen said. "I've gotten to know the guys. They work hard. They listen to what you're trying to say. They really seem like they want to learn, so I'm expecting to have a fun year."