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UWF Men's Basketball Coach To Retire After Current Season

goargos.com

The University of West Florida announced Monday afternoon that men’s basketball coach Bob Stinnett will be stepping down after this season.

Coach Stinnett is in his sixth season as head coach. He was a UWF student athlete back in the 1960s and before returning as head coach had stops at the high school, junior college and university levels, including stints at Pensacola High School and Pensacola Junior College. WUWF’s Bob Barrett spoke to Dave Scott, the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UWF about Coach Stinnett’s announcement.

Here is some of what Scott said:

--When he was first hired, Bob Stinnett said he would stay for five years and he's in his sixth season now. Stinnett has put a significant amount of time and energy into the program and is looking to step into a new phase of his life.

-- Coach Stinnett brought a great historical perspective to the Men's Basketball Program. He was a member of that first team back in the 60s and he brought back that great work ethic from teams of the late 60s and early 70s that did really well and had great records. Plus he was a coach at some of the junior colleges in the area and brought a greater awareness to the UWF program.

--There has been some recruiting for next year but this will slow that process as student athletes will want to know who they are coming to play for.

--The search for a replacement will be a nationwide search, although if someone has local ties, as Coach Stinnett did, that will be a plus, but they will definitely be looking for someone with collegiate experience, preferably D-2 experience. 

--Coach Stinnett's legacy will be the impact he made in some student athlete's lives. The program had its first All-American (Ellis Young) during his tenure. He also served as a bridge from the time before the mid-70s when UWF dropped its athletics programs to the present.

The UWF men’s basketball team has three games left this season, including two at home this week. The Argonauts will host West Georgia on Thursday, and Coach Bob Stinnett’s last home game as head coach will be Saturday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. against West Alabama.

Bob Barrett has been a radio broadcaster since the mid 1970s and has worked at stations from northern New York to south Florida and, oddly, has been able to make a living that way. He began work in public radio in 2001. Over the years he has produced nationally syndicated programs such as The Environment Show and The Health Show for Northeast Public Radio's National Productions.