By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
No need to wait on that Boone County Schools’ decision on Tim Sullivan’s future as Cooper High’s boys’ basketball coach. Sullivan made it for them.
He’s moving on to St. Henry High School where Sullivan, the Ninth Region’s current winningest coach for his 18 years and 305 victories at Cooper High, will be replacing the retiring Dave Faust, the Ninth Region’s all-time winningest coach in his 33 seasons at the Erlanger school.
Sullivan, whose Jaguars won the Ninth Region championship in March, his third time to do so, will be replacing “my great friend and mentor, Dave Faust,” at a program he “has built over 33 years,” Sullivan said in a press release. “My staff and I are grateful for the trust to lead the program into the future… to continue the tradition of excellence and building young men of character, integrity, tenacity and toughness… my family and I are extremely excited to be a part of the CRU.”
Sullivan has “a fantastic reputation here in Northern Kentucky and throughout the state,” St. Henry AD Jim Demler said. “We are honored to add a coach of his stature. Coach Sullivan is a proven winner and always gets the very best from his players.”
Sullivan will also no longer have to wait on a decision by Boone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hauswald on his appeal to keep his coaching position at the Cooper basketball program he founded. For reasons no one has made clear, the Cooper administration of Principal Jeff Wilson and AD Randy Borchers had asked Sullivan in January to step down after the season for what has been described as an issue over “culture improvement.”
That didn’t slow down the Jaguars’ bid for the school’s third regional title under Sullivan nor diminish the fans’ and players’ support of their coach in a victorious run that ended only in the Sweet 16 against state champ Great Crossing.