photo by: Photo courtesy Jamar Reese

Free State assistant basketball coach Jamar Reese.

At any given Free State sporting event, odds are that Jamar Reese is somewhere near the action.

Reese, a former student-athlete for the Firebirds from 2004-07, has been a staple at Free State events for the last 12 years. In that time, he hasn’t missed a football game. He can be found hanging around the baseball and softball fields in the spring. And since 2017, he has been an assistant coach for the boys basketball team.

Reese announced on social media on Saturday that he was leaving the Free State basketball coaching staff but still expects to be a constant presence around the school. He doesn’t plan on breaking his football game streak anytime soon.

“It ran its course,” Reese said about leaving the basketball coaching staff. “It’s been absolutely a dream come true. There’s no way I could’ve imagined it would lead to what it was.”

As a player, Reese was a part of the first Free State basketball team to win a game at the state tournament. When he returned, the Firebirds continued to succeed with their basketball program. It means a lot to Reese to impact the school he graduated from for so long.

“That doesn’t happen a lot at Free State — we don’t have a lot of alumni come back into the building,” Reese said. “To do that, it’s been a dream come true. Hopefully, I started a trend, and you’ll see more of that.”

As a player, Reese was a part of a 9-11 boys basketball team that got hot at the end of the season and went all the way to the state tournament and won the school’s first game there. As a coach, Reese was on the staff in 2019 when the Firebirds came back late to beat Derby in the playoffs in a last-minute comeback.

Reese played for Pratt Community College and Dakota Wesleyan University in South Dakota. He then spent time in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, working for the Miami Heat NBA G League team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, before returning to Kansas and starting his coaching career in Wichita with a youth basketball program.

That got him into the industry, and he has continued to coach since.

“You just get the passion for wanting to not only help kids, but you get the passion of what success can be like,” Reese said. “I think having a knack for being able to relate with so many different people helped tremendously (in coaching).”

Being a coach led Reese to become a Free State special education teacher. Teaching wasn’t a career field that Reese anticipated ever entering, but it was a natural continuation of his passion for working with kids. He quickly learned its reward and importance and believes it is the “perfect combination.”

Reese’s options are open. He says he’s excited for his coaching future, whatever capacity he ends up in. His plan is to stay in the Kansas City metro area and the community he has been a part of for almost his entire life. For now, he’s most excited to see how the Free State baseball team will do this season.

“I want to keep my options open and see what happens from a coaching standpoint,” Reese said. “I’m not too worried about that.”

The 2007 boys basketball team at Free State High School finished third in the Class 6A state tournament March 10 in Emporia, with a 64-51 victory against Washburn Rural. In the back row, from left, are Weston Wiebe, Jason Sneegas, Craig Rosenstengle, Nick Devin, Kyle Schreiner, Christian Ballard, Chase Hoag, Jamar Reese, D.J. Klenklen and Austin Jacobsen; front row, Marcus Spates and Kris Wilson. Chuck Law is the head coach, and Pat Hupfauf, Dustin Leochner and Jeremy Stover are the assistant coaches.