BOTHELL — Brent Hudson has been hired as the new girls basketball coach at Lynnwood High School, replacing Everett Edwards, who resigned as head coach following the 2015-16 season.
In nine seasons at Lynnwood, Edwards turned the program around. He compiled a record of 163-65 and led the Royals to their first state championship in school history in 2015. He also led the Royals to third-place finishes at state, as a 4A school in 2014 and a 3A school in 2016.
Before Hudson even got the job, people weren’t shy to let him know about Edwards’ legacy.
“I’m probably feeling that more and more,” Hudson said. “That line of ‘big shoes to fill’ has been mentioned numerous times including when I showed up for the interview. That is what the front-office lady said was ‘you’ve got some big shoes to fill.’ I had the privilege of coaching his oldest son, so I got to know Everett through that. Everett was amazing in the way that he treated me as a coach to his son, so I totally understand why everyone thinks so highly of Everett.”
Hudson, who was hired this past weekend, has already been in contact with Edwards, who has offered to help Hudson be successful in any way he can.
Much like Edwards, who helped build the Lynnwood youth program before being hired to coach the high school team, Hudson is part of the Lynnwood community. Two of his children attend the high school and he has a third child that will attend Lynnwood in the future.
“I’ve got a natural draw to the school in terms of wanting to invest back into the school where my kids go,” Hudson said.
Lynnwood athletic director Rob McMains said having a coach that is part of the community is always a plus.
“He’s just kind of a Lynnwood guy now,” McMains said. “I think it’s always ideal to find someone who is invested in the community and the school. It’s not a requirement. We have some challenges at Lynnwood, so when somebody kind of understands what we’re about, what our school is about and what our community is about because he’s been around for a while, it makes the transition a little easier.”
The 42-year-old Hudson last coached in 2008-09 as an assistant for the Lynnwood boys team. McMains said he left coaching to focus on his family and other endeavors, but as his kids grew up Hudson was still visible around campus and would attend games.
“Every once in a while I’d kind of joke with him about getting back into coaching not actually thinking he was planning on it or thinking of it,” McMains said. “So it was a pleasant surprise when he showed interest.”
It’s been seven years since Hudson coached in high school and even longer since he’s been a head coach, but that doesn’t concern McMains.
“It’s not a concern at all,” McMains said. “When we hired Everett Edwards, he had never coached a high school game in his life and that seemed to work out OK for us.”
And neither McMains or Hudson seemed worried about the pressure that the recent success of the Lynnwood program might create.
“He doesn’t seem too fazed by it,” McMains said. “I think if he was fazed by it that he wouldn’t have applied. He just wants to be involved in the school and the community in any way he can and he knows his stuff. He knows basketball.”
“I don’t necessarily feel the pressure,” Hudson added. “We want to win and we’re going to go after that. We have high expectation of ourselves and I have high expectations of what I think we’re going to accomplish, but in terms of just pressure, I don’t really feel it.”
The Royals graduate just two seniors from this year’s third-place team, but it is their two best players in Mikayla Pivec, who is a two-time winner of the Gatorade Washington State Girls Basketball Player of the Year, and Jordyn Edwards, the daughter of Everett Edwards. Both have scholarships to play at Division-1 colleges, Pivec at Oregon State and Edwards at Colorado State.
“We lost two Division-1 players, but there is still talent here,” McMains said. “The program is set up and the feeder program is set up. The program is in good shape for the long haul. It’s a good situation to come in to.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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