McMahan Prepares For Return To Siloam Springs

Jason McMahan, Bentonville’s head basketball coach, will coach in his first game in Siloam Springs since leaving the school in 2009.
Jason McMahan, Bentonville’s head basketball coach, will coach in his first game in Siloam Springs since leaving the school in 2009.

— Jason McMahan knows his return today to Siloam Springs won’t be easy — on the basketball court and on a personal level.

McMahan, who led the Siloam Springs boys basketball team to a Class 5A state championship in 2008, will coach in his first game at the school since the 2009 season.

And he’ll be on the opposing bench with Bentonville (14-3, 4-0 7A/6A-West Conference).

“It’s not going to be as fun for me as people think it will be,” McMahan said.

McMahan left his job as Siloam Springs’ coach in late June 2009 for Bentonville. One thing he hasn’t had to do until now is face his former school and town, where he lived for nearly 10 years and made friends for a lifetime and an abundance of memories.

“There’s no doubt it will be strange,” he said. “We love so many families and so many people in that town.”

McMahan was 54-30 in his three seasons as the Panthers coach and 23-19 in the highly-competitive 5A-West Conference.

“McMahan brought an attitude to the kids, and they had a relationship with him that enabled him to mold a group together that maybe on paper wasn’t good enough to win a state championship,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Stewart, who was an assistant during McMahan’s first season as coach with the Panthers in 2006-07. “He molded them, and they had a belief in each other and in their coach that enabled them to win a state championship, along with some really good players, too.

“That’s no secret. He’s a really good coach and a good communicator. That’s why there is a healthy respect. I learned a lot from Jason. The kids that have come through are still benefiting from a lot of the things that happened under his regime.”

Stewart remembers coaching in the Oklahoma State Tournament in 2008 and getting text messages from friends in Siloam Springs with the news that the Panthers had beaten Greene County Tech to win the state title.

“That was really fun,” Stewart said. “That’s something where you feel like you know those guys and you’re really proud of them.”

McMahan is on the flip side of that now.

Most nights, when he checks for scores, he hopes to hear about a Siloam Springs victory.

“My hope and desire is for Siloam to lose two games all season — both to Bentonville — and then to go on and win the 6A title,” McMahan said.

McMahan said he’ll always think fondly of his years in Siloam Springs.

“I came there as a 22-year-old kid,” McMahan said. “I left there with a kid, married and in my estimation, grown up and spiritually matured. Those people in that town helped me do that.”

All three of his children were born here — his sons Lincoln, 4, and Noah, 2, at the old Siloam Springs Memorial Hospital and daughter Adelynn, 8 months, at the new Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.

“We love that place,” he said. “If my wife (Melissa) and I have another I’m sure it’ll be there.”

But he has no doubt he made the right decision to leave for Bentonville.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s like every job in that there are things that are different, but there’s no regrets and I absolutely love it. I’ve experienced great personal and professional growth at Bentonville.”

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