Another Clermont County High School basketball team will be under new leadership later this season.
Bethel-Tate head coach Chris DeLotell stepped down as the Tigers’ head coach after two seasons at the helm and an overall record of 17-21.
“Every season, you spend a little time away and figure out what’s next,” DeLotell said. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. It’s got nothing to do with Bethel-Tate or basketball. I have all positive things to say about the administration at Bethel-Tate, the players…it was a tremendous experience for me.”
DeLotell decided to make the move to spend more time with his family and be more active in both the lives of his children and his wife.
“I have a daughter who’s seven and a son who is four,” DeLotell said. “They’re getting involved now in sports. I coach them right now in baseball and I coached both in basketball during the season. My wife is a full-time teacher in the Forest Hills district. Over the years she’s built up a baking business out of our house. It’s been awesome. For me, it’s about doing what is best for my family.”
Since winning a share of the National Division title in 2016-2017 under head coach Tom Jutze, Bethel-Tate has had three coaches in the last five seasons. Athletic Director Evan Shepherd will be tasked with helping find the next leader of the program and DeLotell has full faith in his ability to do so.
He’s awesome,” DeLotell said. “He gets it. Athletic Director at Bethel-Tate has been such a revolving door, Evan has really stabilized that position. He’s going to find an excellent coach.”
Reflecting upon his time leading the Tigers, DeLotell said hoped the past two seasons validated the decision made by the Tigers to bring him aboard.
“I hope that we did some things over the course of the two years that validated that choice,” DeLotell said. “I grew a lot as a coach. My first year, we had a senior class that bought into a new coach and took us to a winning record, the first one in a little while. Both years we had kids that were committed to what we wanted to do and were coachable, and that’s very big for me.”
Bethel-Tate becomes the fifth Clermont County school to change boys basketball coaches since the season ended. In addition to the Tigers, Milford, Goshen, New Richmond, and West Clermont all will have new coaches next season.
As of this writing, only one of those schools has filled their vacancy. Milford hired Brandon Baker, a Milford graduate and Goshen’s former boys basketball coach.