Hear from Next Level Challenge coaches as they share their thoughts and reactions to Tony Irons’ departure from the program.
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Below: (left to right) The Cardinals compete in the Missouri Community College Athletic Conference, Tony Irons (mug shot) hopes to duplicate his success as a floor leader with Mineral Area, as he did with the Wolverines. (Action photos by Brian McDonald.)
With no more plateaus left to climb on the high school basketball level, Tony Irons is taking his talents and acumen to the next level: the junior college circuit
As word spread recently of Irons, the veteran Wolverines boys basketball coach, who is leaving the program to take the head coaching job at Mineral Area Community College, the consensus was that Mineral Area is getting great coach and the proper fit.
Suffice to say, that viewpoint starts with the very university which hired Irons. Indeed, Vashon is synonymous with victory, especially when it matters most in March at state tournament time.
“Tony is a legendary coach from the St. Louis area, and with his contacts and coaching ability, we feel he will be able to draw the best talent from St. Louis and the surrounding areas to MAC,” noted Jim Gerwitz , the athletic director at Mineral Area of Irons, who won seven state championships in nine years at Vashon and another one at since-closed Madison Prep before coming to Vashon. “We know he’s a winner. Everywhere he goes, he wins. Tony is the right man for the job to take Mineral Area College basketball to the next level.”
Many would probably concur with that opinion, given what he has accomplished thus far. Tony Irons, a starting point guard on a Lutheran North state championship team and a College of the Ozarks small-college national champion squad, returned the Wolverines program to championship prominence after his first season there and hasn’t looked back. He has left a lasting impression, just as legendary father Floyd Irons did when he won 10 state championships over three decades. The younger Irons restored the roar after Vashon had hit a 10-year dry spell without even making it deep into the playoffs, much less winning a state title.
One of those recent state titles that Tony Irons captured was in 2021, when the Wolverines beat Westminster Christian 55-46 for the Missouri Class 4 title. Westminster would come back the next season to hand the Wolverines a 39-35 home defeat, something local teams are rarely able to do against Vashon. Still, Westminster coach Dan Ribble knows it’s no easy task playing Vashon at any juncture, anywhere.
“I would describe his teams at Vashon as talented, tough and together,” said Ribble, whose club holds the distinction of an area team posting a rare road win at Vashon, 39-35 in 2022, after losing to the Wolverines 55-46 for the Missouri Class 4 title in 2021. “I think everyone recognized that they had gifted, skilled players, (but) they were also disciplined and unselfish. From our perspective they were really hard to prepare for because they applied tremendous pressure with their offensive and defensive schemes.”
Speaking on the Charlie Tuna radio show this past week on 590 The Fan, Irons said he “just felt like it was time to move on.” With four starters and a couple of key reserves returning from a state championship team, which beat John Burroughs 68-37 in the title game, he said “Vashon is in a great place.”
In assuming the reins at Mineral Area, Irons is following in the footsteps of another local basketball star and coach, Corey Tate, the veteran St. Louis University assistant coach, who held the Mineral Area job several years ago and directed the Cardinals to six conference titles and region titles, after ending his playing career at Mizzou. Tate acknowledged that he couldn’t be more pleased for Irons.
First off, I’m ecstatic and extremely happy for Tony,” remarked Tate. “I am happy to see him take that next leap of faith. I wish him the best in his next adventure of basketball, and life. Mineral Area (in Park Hills, Mo.) is a rich, rich bed of basketball tradition. I think Tony will do a great job and he will get a lot of talent down there. You eat what you hunt.”
Another such person who will attest to the community’s support of the basketball program is St Mary’s High coach Bryan Turner, a Beaumont High standout who starred at Mineral Area before completing his collegiate career at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Turner is also the only area coach to beat Vashon in the playoffs during Irons’ nine-year reign at Vashon. The only other year a Tony Irons-coached Vashon team didn’t win a state title was in 2020, due to the Covid-19 cancellation of the basketball championships in Classes 4-6.
“Tony Irons’ decision to move on from Vashon to move on from Vashon to take the coaching job at Mineral Area is significant,” said Turner. “Having known Tony and observed his coaching style, I believe he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Mineral Area. My time playing at Mineral Area College taught me a lot about the strong sense of community and the high expectations for athletic and academic performance. It’s a program that values hard and dedication, and Tony’s philosophy will fit right in.”
The Mineral Area athletic director certainly echoes that sentiment.
“The community of Park Hills loves basketball and Tony will fit in perfectly, just like Corey Tate did,” said Gerwitz.
I’m glad I can be a trailblazer for somebody just like they were a trailblazer for me,” said Tate, who said he just gotten off the phone with Irons the day he spoke with the Argus.
“We wish Coach Irons the best as he begins his new journey coaching at Mineral Area,” added Ribble.
“Coach Irons will have 100 percent support from the community,” assured Gerwitz.
As Irons emphasized on the aforementioned radio show, the cupboard is hardly bare at Vashon for the next successor. Among the returning players are 6-foot-9 forward Nicholas Randall, who averaged 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and 6-1 guard Trey Williams, who averaged 12.9 points per game. Both will be seniors. The Wolverines will also have a host of very young talent, including 6-0 guard Jimmy McKinney Jr, who had a breakout 16-point game in the club’s 69-52 state semifinal romp over Kansas City Central to reach the title game.
Of course McKinney Jr. is the son of Jimmy McKinney, the Vashon great from the late 1990’s-early 2000s era, who went to star at Mizzou and in the European Leagues before returning to the United States. He returned to Vashon as an assistant coach a second last year and serving as the head coach at Kirkwood a couple of years, and is the leading candidate to be tabbed head coach. Irons said he hopes McKinney will take the position. Clearly that would make for the easiest transition of authority, given McKinney’s historic and current ties, as well as his son being an emerging star.
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