By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
New Benton boys basketball coach Jake Bankston knows how to win while fighting an uphill battle. His teams have done that at Class A St. Mary’s in his hometown of Natchitoches.
That approach is a good fit as Benton battles in basketball-rich District 1-5A trying to hang in with some of the state’s top teams.
“You’re going to play Captain Shreve and Natchitoches Central and Huntington, and look what they did last year and for many years previously,” he said, “That’s not all. From watching scores and talking to coaches, there are good basketball teams all around 1-5A, and outside of district, all around the area.”
Bankston, 26 but already with seven years of high school coaching experience, was announced Wednesday by Benton principal Whitney Clark as the Tigers’ new coach.
“It’s such a good community, and they rally around their school and sports teams,” he said. “I’m really excited.”
Bankston guided St. Mary’s to back-to-back state quarterfinal berths while compiling a 61-24 record in three years as head boys coach, 46-14 in the last two seasons. He previously was an assistant boys and girls coach, head girls coach for two years and before he graduated from Northwestern State in 2020, was a student assistant for both teams and in football. As a girls assistant, he contributed to three state tournament appearances highlighted by a 2020 state championship. His overall head coaching mark is 84-45 (.651) in five years.
He remained on the St. Mary’s football staff and helped that program reach state quarterfinals in the past two seasons. Bankston has been either a student or staff member at the Natchitoches school since he was five years old and was the first of three brothers to play point guard for the Tigers over the past 12 seasons.
While SMHS has been very successful against its peers, Bankston’s basketball squads also excelled against strong teams in non-district play, notching signature wins over big school powers Alexandria Senior High, Northside (Lafayette) and West Monroe. In 2023 when St. Mary’s district rival Northwood-Lena dominated the rest of its Class A competition, the Tigers split regular-season meetings with the Gators and narrowly missed beating them in a neutral site district championship contest before Northwood rolled to the state Non-Select Division IV championship.
What gives him confidence that he can make the jump to the state’s biggest classification, playing in one of Class 5A’s stronger districts?
“Our success comes from the culture we’ve created at St. Mary’s,” he said. “We make the little things the big things to be successful. We get guys to buy into a program, and benefit from fellow coaches, administrators and a community that is very supportive.
“At a 1A school we didn’t have resources or the depth those bigger schools had, but we had guys up and down the roster who bought into their roles. Didn’t matter if they played 30 minutes or two minutes, they did what was needed for the team to succeed,” said Bankston. “That’s the standard we plan to establish.”
The work has already begun. He will meet returning players Friday. Tryouts are June 3-4.
“Year one, I want to put a product on the floor that Benton High School and the community can be proud of, and that’s the expectation. It will take a lot of hard work, setting high standards and motivating guys to achieve them,” he said. “I’ve spoken with the assistant coaches, coach (Justin) Whaley and coach (Robert) McKnight, and I’ve heard a lot of great things about them. I can’t wait to hear what their vision is and the perspective they bring.
“This I know — we have to create depth and be able to guard really well. We’ve got to run and execute sets at a high level.”
Along with Clark, Benton athletic director/head football coach Reynolds Moore and other people he’s met recently, Bankston can rely on a couple familiar faces at his new school: new Lady Tigers coach Lyndzee McConathy, whose husband Logan was a star player at St. Mary’s, and assistant baseball coach Brooks McMinn, formerly head coach at St. Mary’s.
“Coach McConathy is going to be a pleasure to work with. We have a lot of common ground and she’s already been very helpful,” he said. “Reconnecting with Brooks has been great.”
Bankston was St. Mary’s K-12 Knipmeyer Excellence in Teaching award recipient in 2022 as a middle school history teacher.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
