Wesley Chapel coach to leave after season

WESLEY CHAPEL -- Kent Mills, who took Wesley Chapel's boys basketball team to the state final four last year and has the Wildcats on pace for another run at a state title, will leave his post after this season to accept a job in his native Indiana.

"The only reason it's hard to go back is this team, and the students here at Wesley Chapel," said Mills, who told his players last week. "It's been emotional, but the kids are going to bounce back. They're a very mature group of young men, and they understand that life changes. This is the hardest decision I've had to make in a long, long time."

Mills, 40, who works in sales for the Lorimar company, said he thought long and hard about whether to wait and tell his team after the season, but ultimately decided to break the news, rather than risk it being leaked to them one way or another.

"I talked a lot with my assistants, wondering "Is it right to tell them?"' he said. "It's been emotional, but they've looked at it as a reason to get hungrier, to strive harder to get after a state title in Lakeland."

Wesley Chapel went 25-9 last year, winning district and regional titles before losing to St. Augustine Nease in the state semifinal. This year's Wildcats have been even better, rolling out to a 17-1 record and a No. 3 ranking in Class 3A.

Mills said the only requirement he had in taking the job was that he be allowed to finish the season with his team.

"If that hadn't been part of the equation, I would have swallowed the pill and just said the job wasn't meant to be," he said.

He still has six weeks left with the Wildcats, with the postseason opening Feb. 17 with a district tournament at Pasco and potentially continuing to the state finals in Lakeland on March 15. Mills said the team has responded well in two games since his announcement.

"The intensity level, both at practice and in games, has been very high," said Mills, whose team faced Mulberry at home Thursday night in a key district game.

Mills said the demands of his job have presented challenges for him as a coach, but his players have always been understanding about inconveniences such as practicing at night after he gets home from work.

"They've sacrificed a lot of nights for me," said Mills, whose son, Zach, is a senior guard for the Wildcats. "To be here at 6:30 for every practice, they give up a lot. Not too many high school kids will give up every night of the week for you like that."

Wesley Chapel athletic director Annie McGhee said the school would open a search for Mills' replacement after the season. Assistants Alan Johnson, Mike Macchiorola and Jerry Bell would be considered, though she said the Wildcats' rise to prominence in the last two seasons would likely draw high interest in the job. McGhee said that after the school's first two coaches left after one season, Mills has brought continuity in addition to taking the program to unprecedented success.

"He's been a stable part of our basketball program, and they've really developed a lot in his two years as coach," she said. "He's definitely a big asset that we are going to have to replace."

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