Coach Earl Seeley Begins 10th Season at WSHS
Photo: Coach Seeley with his fellow teammates at Springfield College.
Written By Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly
Wagener Salley High School (WSHS) basketball coach, Earl Seeley begins coaching his tenth season with the War Eagles on the first week of November or as soon as his players are freed up from the football season. If the football team goes to the playoffs, their schedule will overlap with the basketball season.
Coach Seeley will run try-outs for three days, then make his team. He usually carries 12 – 15 players. If some guys are good enough to play, Seeley will stretch the team to 15.
I caught up with Coach Seeley in his office on a hot school day in between his Physical Education classes. We sat in his office, sandwiched between trophies and photos of former teams and players making spectacular plays, forever preserved on Seeley’s wall of fame.
First, I asked him if, after 35 years in the business, he is thinking about retirement. Not a bit. “As long as I have my health,” he said, “I can keep going. I love coaching. I love seeing the development of players. I really love seeing guys after they graduate, and how after I’ve had them for four years, they come back and tell me stories, things I’ve forgotten already. These guys remember everything. You think these guys are not listening to you when you are preaching to them, but they’re listening, they hear.”