The expected became official last Friday when Mark Thomas was officially named the head coach of the Warrenton boys basketball program.

Thomas takes over for Mike Uffmann, who accepted the head coaching job at Fort Zumwalt North last month.

“It feels good,” Thomas said. “I’m honored. Mike left me with a lot of good, skilled players. We worked really well together last year and I have nothing but good things to say about him and the shape he left the program in. He did a great job with these guys and I just hope to continue what we worked on and built, and to continue that in the future.”

Thomas worked under Uffmann last season as an assistant, and he helped guide the Warriors to an 18-8 record.

A native of Wellsville, Thomas was previously the head coach at Hannibal from 2014 to 2016.

“I enjoyed my time at Hannibal and I enjoyed the kids, but this was the area I wanted to be in,” he said. “I wanted to come home.”

With 13 years of high school coaching experience, Thomas appeared to be the favorite to replace Uffmann.

It was unclear how soon the position would be filled, but Thomas was pleased to get the nod early in the summer.

“I think that was best for everyone involved,” he said. “It made me happy and I think it was best for the kids to know what’s going on and not having multiple guys installing things. The beauty of me coming in last year and this working out now is that a lot of my stuff is already in because me and Mike molded a lot of our ideas together. So there wasn’t much to install. It’s different, but it’s just about continuing to progress and build those relationships.”

Thomas took the Warriors to the St. Charles Shootout Saturday and Sunday, where the team competed against teams from Missouri and Illinois.

And while the Warriors aren’t expected to undergo major changes next season, Thomas said there are a few tweaks he plans to make over the summer.

“We still have the same offensive principles,” he said. “We want to attack and be the team that dictates tempo on both ends of the floor. We’re not going sit back and let some other team tell us what to do. One of the biggest changes is that I want to push the pace. We have a lot of talented guards, and Caleb (Strauss) is a rim-protector. Then we have a lot of talented younger guys that developed on J.V. last year, so I think we can play at a faster pace and still have our sets we can run.”

The team plans to attend a camp at Central Methodist later this month as Thomas continues to transition into his new role over the summer.

“I just want to see our commitment level is there and that we’re paying attention,” he said. “The best thing I can say about these kids is that they are really good kids. They are good character kids, and I’m just happy to be allowed to help them grow as young men.”