The United School District board of education voted 6-1 on Wednesday night to not bring back boys varsity basketball coach Doug Dennison. The move came as quite a shock to many around the listening area. Dennison took the job in 2016, coming from the Monmouth-Roseville boys basketball program, where he served several years as the JV head coach under hall of fame coach Chuck Grant. Dennison took over a program that was (10-20) and in four years gave them their first 20 win season in 2019-2020, following that up with a (14-2) mark in the covid-shortened year of 2020-2021. He led the Red Storm to the school’s first regional title in 2022, winning a school-record 27 games by season’s end. Dennison was named an IBCA regional coach of the year twice, in 2021 and 2022, winning 61 games and losing only 21 during the three year stretch between the 2018-2022 seasons. United Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt was in the WRAM Morning Show studio this morning and confirmed that the school district was indeed looking for a new coach to head up the Red Storm boys basketball program.
Dennison heads up the 21st Century Community Learning Center programs and activities for before and after school for both United and Monmouth-Roseville school districts, assisting students with homework help, tutoring and social/emotional skill development. In a social media post, Dennison stated that he was proud of the accomplishments of the basketball program and wished them nothing but the best moving forward.
