Nolan Helder had no intentions of leaving Eureka Springs’ boys basketball team, especially since he knew the potential the Highlanders had for the upcoming season.
The opportunity to return home, however, was too good to turn down.
Profile
Nolan Helder
SCHOOL: West Fork
NOTABLE: Has seven years head coaching experience, including the last five at Eureka Springs. … Accumulated 113 victories through his five years with the Highlanders, who won the school’s first regional title and a state tournament game in 2011. … A 1999 graduate of West Fork who is also the grandson of Doyle Baker, the school’s first football coach. … Is the son-in-law of former Tigers football coach John Selph and the brother-in-law of Rodney Selph, who coached West Fork’s football team before taking over the girls basketball program in the offseason.
Helder was named the new boys basketball coach at West Fork — the school where he graduated in 1999 — during last week’s school board meeting. He replaces David Farrell, who resigned last month to become the men’s basketball coach at University of the Ozarks in Clarksville.
“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Helder said. “My wife and I both were raised in West Fork, and we know a lot about the history involved with the school. We feel like we’re coming home.”
Helder had spent the last five seasons at Eureka Springs after previous stints at Berryville and Little Rock Christian. He accumulated 113 victories with the Highlanders, including a 16-16 overall record and an 8-8 mark in 2A-4 West Conference play last season.
Eureka Springs earned regional tournament berths four straight times under Helder before missing it last year and won the regional tournament title in 2011. The Highlanders reached the state tournament for only the second time in school history in 2010, then earned the school’s first state tournament victory the following year.
“I wasn’t looking to leave there, and it was hard for me to leave,” he said. “I really thought we had a chance to win the conference and regional tournaments at Eureka Springs and be one of the top five Class 2A teams in the state. This year’s seniors would have been the first group that was with me from seventh grade on up through the high school ranks.
“But when Coach Farrell left West Fork, I had some people call me and see if I was interested. I had to take advantage of it.”
Helder, who was chosen out of 13 applicants for the position, is well rooted in West Fork’s coaching family. His grandfather, Doyle Baker, was the Tigers’ first football coach, and his father-in-law, John Selph, was the person who later replaced Baker.
If that wasn’t enough, Helder will be sharing gymnasium time with his his brother-in-law. Rodney Selph had been West Fork’s football coach before he took over the girls basketball team during the offseason.
“All we needed to see was what he has done at Eureka Springs,” said West Fork superintendent John Karnes, who has also assumed the school’s athletic director duties since Ferrell left. “That’s what got him the job, and the fact that he is from West Fork is just icing on the cake.
“We knew we had a good program and that the job would draw a lot of good candidates. We were hoping it was early enough that some other school superintendents would allow whoever we chose to opt out of their contract. We weren’t shocked at the quality of candidates we had apply for this job.”
Helder has only held two practices with the Tigers since he assumed his new duties. He said he will focus his philosophy around defense, rebounding and disciplined play on the court.