New Bowling Green boys’ basketball coach Derrick Clubb had a front-row seat for most of the Purples’ success under former coach D.G. Sherrill.

Now Clubb gets a chance to guide the Purples after formally being introduced Thursday.

An assistant under Sherrill for seven years, sandwiched around a four-year stint as the first head coach in South Warren history, Clubb said it is a dream job that he is excited about tackling.

“To be given the keys to this basketball job in this school district, I am really kind of speechless,” Clubb said. “I am humbled and very thankful, but really excited to get started and put my stamp on this basketball program.”

Clubb sees his experience on the sidelines as a blessing, something that should make the transition smoother for a team that is coming off the first state title in the program’s history. Bowling Green won 309 games in Sherrill’s 12 years with six region titles. Clubb was a part of five of those region crowns as an assistant coach.

“I understand what we have done around here,” Clubb said. “I understand what I have been handed. I understand the pride that our community has in this school. It all starts with this school and this school district and it bleeds out to the football program, the soccer program, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball. I can’t name everything, but everything we do at Bowling Green High School we want our kids to have success. The support we receive at this school system is second to none.”

Clubb earned high praise from Sherrill, who stood in the back and watched Thursday’s introduction.

“It’s absolutely a home run,” Sherrill said. “He’s the best basketball coach I have ever worked with. He’s got a mind for it. He understands the job. We have been blessed with a lot of success and I think Derrick Clubb takes it to another level.”

Sherrill added that there were plenty of emotions seeing Clubb be named as his successor.

“While I know I am going to miss coaching, it’s like I’ve got the job all over again,” Sherrill said. “What I feel for him and what I understand he is going through right now, it’s truly a dream. It’s something that he understands. There is not a person they could have hired that wanted the job more than he wanted it. The great thing about it is, not only does he want it, but he has an understanding of what it is all about.”

Clubb said his relationship with Sherrill has helped prepare him for this job.

“Coach Sherrill is one of my best friends,” Clubb said. “To say I learned a lot from him is an understatement. Coach Sherrill wants guys that have head coaching interest. He wants you to have input. He wants everybody to be invested. He always allowed me to have a big say in things we did. Ultimately it was always his decision, but I always felt like any idea I had I could come to him.”

He also learned a lot during his time at South Warren, where he went 59-60 in four seasons – with three years above .500.

“I think the most important thing I learned is you have a have a ‘next’ philosophy,” Clubb said. “What is the next thing you have to do, because there (are) always things coming up, there are always things you have to deal with, things you have to spend time on. Then it is not such a daunting task.”

And now Clubb’s daunting task is to continue to guide a ship that has been pretty much smooth sailing the last decade. With the dead period over, Clubb is eager to get to work and move from the passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat.

“There is a saying in coaching that moving from the second chair to the first chair is an 18-inch move, but the changes in your life you can’t measure,” Clubb said. “There is a lot of truth in that.

“I’m going to be myself. I’m going to try to continue the success and add to it. I am going to try to be me and to be honest. D.G. Sherrill wouldn’t expect anything else.”{&end}