Wright City High School is currently searching for a new varsity boys basketball coach, with Rick Halteman recently having resigned his position.He says he has decided not to return after one year of leading the program to a 13-13 record, its best finish in seven seasons.“My decision had nothing to do with coaching,” said Halteman. “It was all about teaching, and I just needed a change.”He has been a math teacher since arriving in the district four years ago.Halteman served as an assistant at the varsity level his first two years before leading the seventh-grade program for a season. He was promoted to varsity head coach last spring, replacing Ken Brown.“He did a fantastic job,” said Smith. “To have him go one year after having the most success we’d had in a while is tough. I loved the fact he was working with the lower levels.”Outgoing athletic director Doug Smith says the applications for the basketball job have already begun to flow in.“We’re going to start screening those soon, but we also want to include the new athletic director in on those interviews and the hiring process,” said Smith.The new athletic director will be named next week, and Smith is hopeful a new coach can be in place by the May school board meeting.“We’re trying to find a really good teacher but also someone who can coach basketball,” said Smith. “We want someone who is enthusiastic and has some experience at the varsity level.”The Wildcats will be starting fresh on the varsity level next season, having graduated all of their starters. But Smith says that’s no excuse for the program to become irrelevant again.“We want someone whose willing to build this up from the ground level,” said Smith. “We can’t just keep waiting for the good crops of kids to come through and suffer through the down years.”He says the frequent turnover rate of coaches has created unwanted disruptions in the flow of the program, with the athletes struggling to become adapting to constantly changing philosophies.The latest coach will be the Wildcats’ fifth lead in the past seven seasons.“We want to build stability in the program, so hopefully we can find someone who is willing to work at lower levels and commit to hang around and build the program.”HALTEMAN RESIGNS AS BASKETBALL COACHDerrick Forsythe photo.