After coach Nikki Hyles’ retirements, coach Donny Ott joined Bearcat Country for the 2024 girl’s basketball season, one which advanced the team the farthest in seven years.

“I’ve been coaching for 26 years, and at this point in my life, I wanted to get to a community and a school that I could raise my two daughters,” Ott said. “Just seeing how this community embraces their people and how the school district is well run and supportive. I thought it was important for me to get my own family in the school district, so that was kind of a big, inspiring part of me coming here.”

Ott said he had high expectations for the girls, and senior Ella Isbell discusses differences between their coaching styles.

“He does a really good job on focusing on the things we really need to work on,” Isbell said. “We also watch a lot of film, and that helps us correct what our mistakes were, so we can do better [in] the next game.”

After drills and competitions, Ott allows the girls “to validate their wins” by letting them make free throws.

“I don’t really believe in sugar coating, so I try to be very upfront and honest with them,” Ott said. “When kids know how sincere you are and how much you care about them, I think they tend to buy in a little bit more, and work harder. I also think that by treating them like I treat my own daughters, they can see that we do care about them.”

As well as doing “really good things to the program” according to Isbell, Ott has also built a relationship with his students.

“We all like how much he pushes us,” Isbell said. “But he also makes sure that we’re still okay as athletes and we’re taking care of our bodies and stuff like that.”