Two former Wyandotte Bulldog hoop stars will lead Kansas City Kansas Public Schools varsity basketball teams this year.
The Kansas City Kansas Public School Athletic Department announced two former district basketball players have been hired to lead the boys varsity basketball programs at two district high schools for the 2022-2023 school year.
Keith “Boo” Richardson will become the boys’ varsity basketball coach at JC Harmon High School and Kelley Newton will lead the boys’ varsity team at F.L. Schlagle High School.
“Keith and Kelley are great additions to our district, and we look forward to their incredible leadership, both on and off the court,” KCKPS Athletic Director, Tammie Romstad said in a statement.
Keith “Boo” Richardson takes the reigns of the JC Harmon Hawks varsity team. Richardson brings a wealth of knowledge to a sport in which he excelled personally, a four-year starter at Wyandotte High School, he earned KCK League MVP both his junior and senior year. He would go on to play collegiate basketball at Coffeyville Community College and later at Division I, Illinois State, in Normal, Illinois. After college, he would play several years of professional basketball, including a year overseas in Bosnia.
Richardson’s coaching credentials include time at Coffeyville, Illinois State and Park Hill South High School as an assistant. He was also the head basketball coach at Northeast High School in Kansas City, MO.
Kelley Newton will lead the boys’ varsity Stallions of F.L. Schlagle High School. Before coming to F.L Schlagle, Newton was the head coach men’s basketball coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College from 2013-2019.
Before coaching Newton was a basketball star at Wyandotte High School, leading the the Bulldogs to three Kansas state basketball tournaments in the mid 90s. Newton went on to play for the University of Oklahoma where he would help the Sooners reach the NCAA Tournament and a top 20 national ranking. After graduating, Newton would play one year of professional basketball, before becoming a businessman and basketball coach.
“We’re excited to see what they can do with these two, storied high school basketball programs,” Romstad said.