Marble Falls boys basketball coach leaving for Oak Ridge job

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls High School boys basketball coach Neil Laminack has resigned to become the head coach at Conroe Oak Ridge in The Woodlands.

“It’s always bitter sweet,” he said. “I wasn’t looking (for another job.) We were good, making plans for next season. I sent my stuff in not thinking anything more.”

When Oak Ridge coach Joe Price retired, he called Laminack to encourage him to apply for the vacancy, adding it’s a good job and Laminack was a good fit. When Laminack was an eighth-grader in the Hardin-Jefferson school district, he attended a camp and met Price, who was a member of the Port Arthur Lincoln High School staff.

“When I started coaching, I stayed in contact with him,” he said. “He’s an elder statesman you could talk to.”

Some of Laminack’s references called him to let him know the Oak Ridge principal was contacting them. At that point, Laminack told Marble Falls athletic director Todd Dodge and principal Manny Lunoff he had applied for the position.

“I’m very excited for Neil and this opportunity,” Dodge said. “However, I am sad that he is leaving us here in Marble Falls. Neil is an outstanding young basketball coach who has many successful years ahead of him.”

Laminack interviewed for the Oak Ridge position the morning of March 20 and was offered and accepted the job that afternoon.

That area is considered one of the fastest-growing nationally because of Exxon Mobil. The company is closing its office in Fairfax County, Va., to move to the Houston area.

“The Woodlands is landlocked,” Laminack said. “All those people coming will land in our attendance zone.”

While he’s excited about the opportunity, particularly because he’s returning to the Houston area where he has family and close friends, Laminack said it’s not that easy to leave Marble Falls.

He became the head coach two years ago and went 25-45 overall and 2-22 in District 25-4A.

Part of the appeal of taking over the Marble Falls program was coaching in the Highland Lakes, where he could raise family.

“This is a safe place, a comfortable place,” he said. “You can definitely relax. You don’t have a lot of concerns about your family.”

But as he looked at Oak Ridge and the housing in the area, he saw he could raise a family there, too, with the elementary school a bike ride away and the middle school a mile from the elementary school.

“It’s literally all the little houses with the same little fences,” he said. “It was very appealing.”

When he met with his Mustang team after accepting the new job, Laminack told them no matter who became the next head coach, he still thought of them as his players.

“If we don’t talk for 10 years, if there’s something you need, you can pick up the phone,” he told them. “It’s all about the relationships you build with people.”

Dodge said he will begin the process of finding the next boys basketball coach in a few days.

jfierro@thepicayune.com