The Broken Bow girls basketball program will be under new leadership next season. Following the announcement earlier this week that Kelly Cooksley would be stepping down as head coach after nine seasons, the Broken Bow athletic department released a statement Thursday naming Jordan Stroup as the new head coach of Broken Bow girls basketball. Stroup is a 2007 high school graduate of Dundy County in Benkelman. This is Stroup’s first head coaching job. Stroup visited with KCNI/KBBN sports and said he is really excited for the opportunity to lead Broken Bow girls basketball.
“I’m super excited and humbled to be asked to fill such a prestigious role following Coach Kelly Cooksley. It’s a great honor and I’m excited to get to be in this position and get to work and be competitive here in Broken Bow and look forward to continue to work with the girls and meeting the new faces around the community that I’m sure that will appear and excited to get to work.”
Stroup spent this past season as an assistant on the Broken Bow girls basketball staff and prior to that spent seven seasons as assistant boys basketball coach for Dundy County Stratton. Stroup said that being a member of the Broken Bow girls basketball staff this past season and getting to know the girls will be very beneficial in transitioning to head coach.
“Absolutely. You know, when I came in here, the only person I knew was Halle Quinn, which was my niece. But other than that, Brent, I didn’t know anyone. Came up here in the summer, got to know some of the girls throughout the summer. But when the school year and basketball came around, really got to start building some relationships with the girls and getting to really know them and their families. And man, Brent, great, great kids that we have here in Broken Bow. And I think they were excited, just some of the texts that I received last night, that they were excited that I got named the head coach and looking forward to continue to working with them. Yeah, just great kids.”
In a statement released through social media on Thursday, Broken Bow Activities Director Jeff Ellis said “Our girls basketball program has established a strong winning culture over the years, and we believe Jordan is the right person to continue that success.”
Listen to our full interview with Coach Stroup
