Former Olpe Coach Jesse Nelson named National Coach of the Year

(KSHSAA) Another national honor for former Olpe girls basketball Coach Jesse Nelson.
The National Federation of State High School Associations has announced that coach Nelson has been named National girls basketball Coach of the Year.
Jesse Nelson ended his outstanding 44-year high school coaching career in grand style, leading the Olpe High School girls basketball team to a perfect 25-0 record and the KSHSAA Class IA Girls Basketball Championship. Nelson retired in May 2021 as the all-time winningest basketball coach – girls or boys – in Kansas state history with 951 wins and 111 losses – an amazing winning mark of 89.5 percent. Nelson earned five KSHSAA state championships and registered five undefeated seasons. His teams appeared in the state tournament 30 times and won 31 league championships. Nelson also won 394 games as the district’s junior high girls basketball coach, and he also coached junior high and high school girls track and field. Nelson was the 2014 USA Today America’s Girls Basketball Coach National Champion and the 2016 McDonald’s All-American Team head coach. This past year, he was named coach of the year by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.