The Decatur Eagles have their new head boys basketball coach.

Drew Coffman jumped from Kermit to Decatur to take the Eagles job, replacing Roger Brown, who resigned last month.

”I’m very excited,” Coffman said. “I’ve always had an interest in the area, and there’s lots of good high school basketball.”

Coffman spent one season at Kermit, leading the Jackets to a District 4-2A title. He spent three seasons before that at Hico where he worked for Decatur Superintendent Rod Townsend.

Coffman said his relationship with Townsend also intrigued him about the Decatur opening.

Decatur Athletic Director Kyle Story picked Coffman after receiving interest from what he said were several quality applicants.

“I felt he was a good fit with a lot of energy,” Story said. “He took over a Hico group that won one or two games and built a good program there.

“All the basketball coaches I spoke with recommended him. He’ll be a great asset to the program. Coach Brown did a great job. I expect Coffman to build on it and ride the momentum that we already have.”

Coffman was a standout player at Midland Lee High School, averaging 31 points, 7.2 assists and 5.6 rebounds as a senior to earn all-state along with West Texas and Permian Basin Player of the Year honors.

After high school, he went to Texas Tech before transferring to Midwestern to play in 2006-07. His career three-point percentage of .451 is the highest for the Midwestern program.

In his three seasons at Hico, Coffman’s teams made the playoffs twice. In 2010-11, his squad won the District 6-2A title and made the Class 2A Region II semifinal before falling to eventual state champion Idalou.

“We had a good run and won a couple of district titles and made a region tournament,” Coffman said about his past two stops.

Coffman plans to play man-to-man defense and run a motion offense, pushing the tempo when the opportunity presents itself.

“I like to get the ball up and down the floor,” Coffman said. “But that has to go with the personnel.”

Decatur is coming off four straight playoff seasons. The Eagles were 49-15 over the past two years, including going 23-10 in 2011-12. The Eagles beat Glen Rose in the bi-district round before falling to state-ranked Wichita Falls Hirschi in the area game.

“I know Decatur has had a heck of a team the last couple of years,” Coffman said.

The Eagles’ top two leading scorers from last year – Austin Lamirand and Caleb Hogan – graduated. Decatur returns two starters and several bench players.