Vaught Returns To West Fork

STAFF PHOTO PAUL BOYD Cody Vaught was recently named West Fork’s new boys basketball coach.

STAFF PHOTO PAUL BOYD Cody Vaught was recently named West Fork’s new boys basketball coach.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

WEST FORK -- Cody Vaught had no intention of leaving Hector, but that all changed when the West Fork boys basketball coaching job came open for the second time in two years.

The 29-year-old Vaught's first job out of college was at West Fork, and he longed to return, even though he had a team at Hector that could be even better than last year's 23-6 squad.

Profile

Cody Vaught

Age: 29

School: West Fork

Notable: Spent the past two years as the boys basketball coach at Hector. … Led the Wildcats to consecutive state tournament appearances, including a 23-6 finish last year. … Worked two years at West Fork as an assistant volleyball, assistant softball coach and one year as an assistant boys basketball coach.

Working with longtime Tigers basketball coach David Ferrell during the 2008-09 school year definitely made an impression.

"We had a great team coming back, and it was very tough to leave," Vaught said. "To be honest, it was just one of those tough decisions. But I really wanted to come back to Northwest Arkansas. I have a lot of friends at West Fork. Your first job is always pretty special. How great all the faculty and staff were and how hard the kids played for coach Ferrell, that lingered on my mind.

"It's just a great place. It's 15 minutes from Fayetteville, just a great place to live."

Vaught guided Hector to back-to-back state tournament appearances and expected to be at the school for at least five years.He didn't even apply at West Fork when Ferrell chose to move on to the college coaching ranks a year ago. However, that changed when Nolan Helder, who took Ferrell's place last season and led the Tigers back to the state tournament, decided to go into the ministry.

"A year ago, I didn't even consider applying," Vaught said. "I felt like I was meant to be at Hector. But this time it was like, 'This is your chance.' If I don't do it now, I thought I might not have the opportunity three or four years from now."

Vaught said his preference would be an uptempo style, but the talent will dictate how his teams play at West Fork.

"If I had it my way, we'd play man-to-man and press a lot," Vaught said. "But we'll have to see."

Helder's decision to leave West Fork after a year was also a surprise to John Karnes, the school's superintendent.

"That was very unexpected," Karnes said. "With he and his wife being from here, we thought we might have Nolan until he retired. It came as a shock to us. He told me back in April he was having these feelings."

Karnes said he got 20 or so applicants and brought in six for interviews.

"I interviewed them and felt good about all of them, but one stood out," Karnes said. "He had been with us, and we liked Cody. We were sick when we lost him. He had an outstanding record at Hector these past two years. He's a quality guy like his two predecessors.

"David set a high standard here, and Nolan picked up where he left off, did an amazing job.We feel like the program is in great shape. He's familiar with West Fork and will hit the ground running."

Sports on 07/02/2014