By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Ryan Bowman will resume his head coaching career in girls high school basketball with one of the high-profile programs in Northern Kentucky.
Bowman was hired to lead a Cooper team that had an 81.8 winning percentage (131-29) over the last five seasons and won an unprecedented four consecutive girls 9th Region championships from 2021 to 2025.
He’ll be replacing Christian Prohaska, who stepped down as head coach after one season. The Jaguars finished with a 20-9 record following a first-round loss in the region tournament last March.
In his two previous head coaching positions, Bowman’s teams compiled a 45-67 record in four seasons at Boone County and an 11-19 record in one season at Ludlow. He was an assistant coach at Conner last season.
During his career, Bowman was an assistant for several other teams, including the Cooper boys team that was 9th Region champion and state runner-up in 2017.
In a media release, Cooper athletic director Randy Borchers said Bowman “is committed to student athletes competing with confidence, maintaining faith in themselves and one another and never giving into fear while striving for both individual and team success.”
Three of the starters on the Cooper girls team last season were juniors Alivia Scott, Brinkli Rankin and Haylee Noel, who was named 9th Region Player of the Year by local coaches for the second consecutive year.
Noel had team-high averages of 20.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She also shot 88 percent (139 of 158) from the free throw line, which ranked fifth in the final statewide statistics.
Earlier this month, Dayton hired Jeff Wood Jr. to be its girls head basketball coach. He previously coached at Aiken High School in Cincinnati. St. Henry and Holmes will also have new girls head coaches next season.