{"id":40914,"date":"2019-02-28T15:34:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T20:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/?p=40914"},"modified":"2019-02-28T15:34:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T20:34:30","slug":"kenny-sends-longtime-southeast-coach-into-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/?p=40914","title":{"rendered":"Kenny sends longtime Southeast coach into retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>LAKELAND &#8211; Longtime Southeast head coach John Harder was hoping he would leave Lakeland the same way he did his first time, with a state championship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Bishop Kenny saw otherwise in a 49-48 win over Southeast (25-5) in the Class 6A state semifinals yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The loss ended the storied coaching career of Harder, who announced his retirement earlier in the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harder, who took over the Southeast program in 1985, ends his career with 826 wins and 216 losses at Southeast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5In his 34 year career at Southeast, Harder leaves with three state titles (1985, 1990, 2014) and tons of respect from around the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Count Bishop Kenny head coach Charlsea Clark among those with mutual respect for him and his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Part II with media <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/njcE7hYfmP\">pic.twitter.com\/njcE7hYfmP<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByCoreyDavis\/status\/1100928846130569217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 28, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI went to a coaching clinic over the summer, this guy gives you advice about, in coaching, what are you trying to do,\u201d Clark said. \u201cAre you coaching for the next job or are you coaching to put your name on the floor? And that hit me. I\u2019m coaching to put my name on the floor. So to see his name on his floor when we\u2019re watching film, I\u2019m shaking his hand saying, \u2018I\u2019m humbled.\u2019 \u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harder understandably was a bit choked up towards the end of the post game press conference as he began to realize this was it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a great ride, I had hoped to go out the same way I came in, would have been really special to have book end state titles, but it wasn&#8217;t meant to be, &#8221; Harder stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been here (Lakeland) seven times and won three state titles ,&#8221; Harder stated. &#8220;I have been overwhelmed by how everybody has treated me so special here. Even the Bishop Kenny coach came up to me before the game and acknowledged me, I really appreciate that.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The kids really wanted to win badly,&#8221; Harder said. &#8220;They&#8217;re (BK) a great team and they are No. 1 in the state for a reason.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s storybook, couldn\u2019t have been better scripted,\u201d Harder said in summing up his career. \u201cIt\u2019s by the grace of God that I sit here. I sat here 34 years ago and I\u2019m sitting here on my last day of my career. Tremendous respect for the FHSAA. &#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEver since I walked into this gym (Wednesday) afternoon, everybody, including the coach from Bishop Kenny, treated me as if I was something special. And these girls have done that all year long. It\u2019s really hard to leave. I feel like I\u2019m 29 starting all over, but I\u2019m 70. The years have caught up with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9829-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40908\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9829-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9829-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9829-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9829-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Jasmyne Roberts (24) defends Perryauna Youmans during the game.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For a while it looked like his career would be extended one final day as the game changed leads 14 times through out the game and Southeast had a four point lead with three minutes left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, a 5-0 run by Bishop Kenny, gave the Crusaders the lead again temporarily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&#8217;moni Waiters, who scored 18 points, easily drove through the lane for a lay up giving the Seminoles the lead back at 48-47 with 29.5 seconds left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sophomore Jasmyne Roberts penetrated the lane and drew a foul and converted both free throws to give the Crusaders a 49-48 lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Southeast still had two final chances in the closing seconds including  stealing the ball on an inbound play with 0.9 seconds left but was unable to get off a desperation three-pointer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the post game press conference, Harder was recognized by not only the FHSAA for his lengthy career by also by several media for his growth of the game and being a good ambassador for the game.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe just wanted to make it a great experience for him, because he\u2019s retiring,\u201d said sophomore Perryauna Youmans, who had a team-high 19 points. \u201cI think he\u2019s one of the best coaches we\u2019ve ever had. He\u2019s known worldwide, so he was a pleasure to play for.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9828-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40910\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9828-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9828-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9828-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9828-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Center A&#8217;moni Waiters attempts to go up for a ball <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9826-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40911\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9826-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9826-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9826-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9826-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Jasmyne Roberts tries to go through the lane and around A&#8217;moni Waiters <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>       <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>     <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAKELAND &#8211; Longtime Southeast head coach John Harder was hoping he would leave Lakeland the same way he did his first time, with a state championship. Unfortunately, Bishop Kenny saw otherwise in a 49-48 win over Southeast (25-5) in the Class 6A state semifinals yesterday. The loss ended the storied coaching career of Harder, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":624,"featured_media":40915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[112],"tags":[652],"class_list":["post-40914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-basketball","tag-topstories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Southeast-hoops.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}