NewsAthleticsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffAlumniAdvancementService
Huffman leads team to No. 1 region ranking
Mar 10, 2005 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Darah Huffman said she is at the happiest time of her life right now, as well she should be. The 1995 alumna is head coach of one of the top AAA girls’ basketball teams in the state of South Carolina, and was recently named Greenville County Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. And while Huffman had not always planned to be a coach, it seems she has found her niche.
“I’ve always enjoyed the game, and I’ve had such a positive experience with the teams I’ve played on and the coaches that have coached me,” said Huffman, a two-time Rome News-Tribune All-Area player while at Darlington who attended Presbyterian College on a full basketball scholarship. At Presbyterian, she was one of the top three-point shooters at the school and in the South Atlantic Conference, so it seemed only natural that she would prosper in a career in athletics.
Two years ago, Huffman accepted her first coaching job at J.L. Mann High School, and has since led the Lady Patriots to a two-year record of 49-4 and two back-to-back Peach Blossom AAA Region titles. Since then, teaching and coaching have become her passion.
“I am happy. I love my job, the kids, the sport. I love being part of these kids’ lives,” she said. “It’s so satisfying to watch them develop as student-athletes and see them graduate and go on to the next level of their lives.”
Huffman’s former coach, Darlington Headmaster David Rhodes, felt the same way when he watched his guard graduate from the Tigers to the Presbyterian Blue Hose, where her team won the SAC championship in three consecutive years. Recently, Rhodes and his wife, Dee Dee, traveled to South Carolina to watch the Lady Patriots compete in the state playoffs.
"Darah coaches like she played, with great intensity and passion and giving it 110 percent all the time," said Rhodes. "It was an honor to watch one of my former players coach. She actually ran one of our plays."
Huffman said at Darlington she learned from the best – mentors like Rhodes, Middle School Principal Jim Van Es and English teacher Skip Saunders – and from her coaches, she learned to lead by their examples.
“I’ve been lucky to be around great coaches all my life. All of my coaches have inspired me,” she said. “My experience with David Rhodes allowed me to develop the love of the game, and I still use one of his plays today … Good coaches are caring. You must put the team before yourself and work harder than anyone else on your staff as well as the kids on your team.”
Huffman and the girls at J.L. Mann have definitely worked hard, to say the least. Mann, which finished 25-3 last year and ended its season with a four-point loss to Greer in the third round of the playoffs, has thrived on a quick defense and a balanced offense this year. The team’s only defeat was a two-point loss to Cloudland, Tenn., in the championship game of a holiday tournament in Boone, N.C., in December.
Most recently, they competed in the AAA Upper State Championship. The team made it to the final four, but lost by one point at the buzzer. According to Huffman, the team’s accomplishments are the result of discipline, teamwork, support and, of course, a little fun.
“When my players graduate,” she said, “I hope that they will remember me as a coach who really cared about them, and know that my door is always open.”
“I’ve always enjoyed the game, and I’ve had such a positive experience with the teams I’ve played on and the coaches that have coached me,” said Huffman, a two-time Rome News-Tribune All-Area player while at Darlington who attended Presbyterian College on a full basketball scholarship. At Presbyterian, she was one of the top three-point shooters at the school and in the South Atlantic Conference, so it seemed only natural that she would prosper in a career in athletics.
Two years ago, Huffman accepted her first coaching job at J.L. Mann High School, and has since led the Lady Patriots to a two-year record of 49-4 and two back-to-back Peach Blossom AAA Region titles. Since then, teaching and coaching have become her passion.
“I am happy. I love my job, the kids, the sport. I love being part of these kids’ lives,” she said. “It’s so satisfying to watch them develop as student-athletes and see them graduate and go on to the next level of their lives.”
Huffman’s former coach, Darlington Headmaster David Rhodes, felt the same way when he watched his guard graduate from the Tigers to the Presbyterian Blue Hose, where her team won the SAC championship in three consecutive years. Recently, Rhodes and his wife, Dee Dee, traveled to South Carolina to watch the Lady Patriots compete in the state playoffs.
"Darah coaches like she played, with great intensity and passion and giving it 110 percent all the time," said Rhodes. "It was an honor to watch one of my former players coach. She actually ran one of our plays."
Huffman said at Darlington she learned from the best – mentors like Rhodes, Middle School Principal Jim Van Es and English teacher Skip Saunders – and from her coaches, she learned to lead by their examples.
“I’ve been lucky to be around great coaches all my life. All of my coaches have inspired me,” she said. “My experience with David Rhodes allowed me to develop the love of the game, and I still use one of his plays today … Good coaches are caring. You must put the team before yourself and work harder than anyone else on your staff as well as the kids on your team.”
Huffman and the girls at J.L. Mann have definitely worked hard, to say the least. Mann, which finished 25-3 last year and ended its season with a four-point loss to Greer in the third round of the playoffs, has thrived on a quick defense and a balanced offense this year. The team’s only defeat was a two-point loss to Cloudland, Tenn., in the championship game of a holiday tournament in Boone, N.C., in December.
Most recently, they competed in the AAA Upper State Championship. The team made it to the final four, but lost by one point at the buzzer. According to Huffman, the team’s accomplishments are the result of discipline, teamwork, support and, of course, a little fun.
“When my players graduate,” she said, “I hope that they will remember me as a coach who really cared about them, and know that my door is always open.”
