Copelin moving on from Steeleville
<span>After guiding the Steeleville girls basketball team to an appearance in the Class 1A Elite Eight in February, coach Brad Copelin is returning to his alma mater at O'Fallon Township High School.</span>
<span>"It was a little rough," Copelin said. "It was hard to make a decision to leave. Financially and long-term, I had to take the interview.</span>
<span>"I didn't want to leave Steeleville and the girls basketball team, but felt it was something I had to do."</span>
<span>Copelin taught mathematics at the school and Steeleville Athletic Director Bryce Bainter said the first priority is finding a math teacher for the district.</span>
<span>"Right now, I think the school's going to concentrate on hiring a math teacher first and if we can get a basketball coach out of that, that's a plus," he said.</span>
<span>Copelin said he won't be coaching at O'Fallon, but will be teaching Geometry and Algebra I at the school.</span>
<span>Chester District 139 recently hired Geometry/Advanced Geometry teacher Sarah Gass from OTHS as its new principal, but Copelin said he couldn't say whether he was taking Gass's position.</span>
<span>"There was two openings and I was looking at one of them," Copelin said. "I know Sarah Gass got hired at Chester as principal and I don't know if I'm taking her spot.</span>
<span>"I'm just hoping to make an impact."</span>
<span>A graduate of OTHS, Copelin helped the school reach the Class AA state championship game in 2006, losing to Chicago Simeon 77-54 in the title game. He tied for seventh in state tournament scoring with 52 points in four games.</span>
<span>Copelin went on to play for McKendree University and Steeleville was the 26-year-old's first opportunity coaching girls.</span>
<span>"My favorite moment is interacting with the kids all year," he said. "That group of girls got along, worked hard. I would say the whole year was a great moment for me."</span>
<span>Steeleville began the season 1-4 after the Du Quoin Lady Indian Tip-Off Classic and was 5-9 at the midseason Christmas break. The Lady Warriors trailed by 11 to Gallatin County in the Gallatin County Sectional semifinal and fell behind to Cairo by nine points in the sectional championship.</span>
<span>Still, the team persevered and became the first girls' team in any sport to advance to the Super-sectional, in just its sixth season of existence. As a result, Copelin was awarded Class 1A Coach of the Year honors by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.</span>
<span>"I just hope they learned something from me and keep working," Copelin said. "I hope (the players) understand that they haven't even reached the tip of the iceberg with the potential that they have."</span>
<span>Bainter said the atmosphere at the school during the team's postseason run was one of his favorite memories of the 2014-15 season. Steeleville could return all but two players from that team this winter.</span>
<span>"When you have year with some postseason success, success breeds success and sometimes it leads into a domino effect," he said.</span>
<span>As far as replacing Copelin as coach, Bainter said he hopes to look internally, but hasn't ruled out finding someone from outside the district.</span>
<span>"I would say if we could stay in-house we would, if not, we'll go other avenues," he said.</span>