WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Coach Donald Hedge is the all-time winningest boy’s basketball coach in WFISD history. He accumulated 344 wins, nine district titles and made a state title appearance in 2022 as head coach of the Hirschi Huskies from 2005 to 2023.

Coach Hedge credits his start in coaching to his childhood. He grew up in Langston, OK, where he said anyone involved in sports was looked up to by the youth.

“A lot of the young men in our community gravitated towards sports as a player or even on into the coaching aspect. A lot of my friends in that community, even though they are not coaching at the high school and college level [they] still coach their sons and grandsons. So I think coaching is just kind of ingrained in us in that community,” Hedge said.

Coach Hedge became head basketball coach for Hirschi in 2005. He had a focus on cultivating strong bonds within the community. To do that, he knew he had to plant himself in the area.

“We really didn’t know the area that well. We were going to rent a home and we kinda looked around. When we made the final decision, you know one of the deciding factors was ‘are we coming here to build a program or are we coming to change lives?’ If we are coming to win games, it really doesn’t matter where we live, but if we are coming to change lives and help change a community, then we need to be involved in it and be a part of that community,” Hedge said.

Coach Hedge is proud to be the all-time winningest boys basketball coach in district history, but said numerous factors were at play for him to achieve all that he has in his career.

“I think timing, opportunity and sometimes having luck is a huge factor. I think winning was a byproduct of a lot of other stuff. Of course [we had] talented kids in the area [as well],” Hedge said.

Coach Hedge said he’s a player’s coach with a unique ability to connect with players, but also believes he’s a tough, hard-nosed coach.

“I think when you establish those relationships, you can coach kids like that pretty tough. They knew I was just trying to get the best out of them. This is truly all in love, and everything I’m pushing you towards is something that you told me you wanted. You told me that you wanted this, and so I’m going to push you towards that standard,” Hedge said.

Coach Hedge continues to mold young people’s lives by coaching basketball at Midwestern State University and teaching math at Legacy High School. He said although it’s a different level of basketball, “the game is the game.”

“Basketball is basketball. There are some differences, but it’s basketball. When we go in at halftime, some of the adjustments are, ‘we gotta keep the guys out of the paint, we gotta block out more, or we gotta do this.’ It’s the same stuff you do in high school. Basketball is basketball,” Hedge said.

Coach Hedge is hopeful that in the future, he can put himself in a position to be the head coach of a college program. For him to keep helping young men reach their ultimate potential.